Rajam Krishnan

Rajam Krishnan (Tamil: ராஜம் கிருஷ்ணன்; 1924[1] or 1925 – 20 October 2014), was a feminist Tamil writer from Tamil Nadu, India.

Rajam Krishnan
BornRajam Krishnan
1924 or 1925
Musiri, Tiruchirapalli district
Died20 October 2014

Biography

Rajam Krishnan was born in Musiri, Tiruchirapalli district. She had very little formal education and appears to have been largely an autodidact.[2]

She started publishing in her twenties. She is known for writing well researched social novels on the lives of people usually not depicted in modern Tamil literature - poor farmers, salt pan workers, small-time criminals, jungle dacoits, under-trial prisoners and female labourers. She has written more than 80 books.[3] Her works include forty novels, twenty plays, two biographies and several short stories. In addition to her own writing, she was a translator of literature from Malayalam to Tamil.[4] In their anthology of Women's Writing in India in the 19th and 20th Century, Susie J Tharu and K Lalita credit Krishnan with "having set a new trend in Tamil literature," referring to the extensive research that Krishnan did in evaluating social conditions as background for her writing.[4]

In 1973, she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for her novel Verukku Neer.[5] In 2009, her works were nationalised by the Government of Tamil Nadu, for a compensation of Rs. 300,000. It was a rare occurrence as only works of dead writers are usually nationalised in Tamil Nadu.[6][7][8]

Death

Rajam was left poor and destitute in her later years and had to be admitted to an old age home.[1] She died on 20 October 2014.[1]

Partial bibliography
  • Uthara Kaandam - (உத்தர காண்டம்)
  • Kurinji Then - (குறிஞ்சித்தேன்)Kannada & Malayalam Translations are published
  • Valaikaram - (வளைக்கரம்)
  • Verukku Neer - (வேருக்கு நீர்)Kannada Translation available
  • Malargal - (மலர்கள்)
  • Mullum Malarndhadhu - (முள்ளும் மலர்ந்தது)
  • Paadaiyil Padinda Adigal - (பாதையில் பதிந்த அடிகள்)
  • Alaivaai Karayile - (அலைவாய் கரையிலே)
  • Karippu Manigal - (கரிப்பு மணிகள்)
  • Mannakattu puntulikal - (மண்ணகத்துப் பூந்துளிகள்)
  • Sathiya Velvi - (சத்திய வேள்வி)
  • Suzhalil Mithakkum Deepangal (Lamps in the Whirlpool)(1987)

Awards and recognitions
  • New York Herald Tribune International Award for a short story (1950)
  • Kalaimagal award (1953)(நாவல் 'பெண் குரல்')
  • Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for Verukku Neer (Water for the Roots) (1973)
  • Thiru. Vi. Ka award (1991)
  • 'Malargal' (Flowers) Ananda Vikatan Novel Prize Winner(1958)('மலர்கள்' ஆனந்த விகடன் பரிசு நாவல் 1958)
  • Soviet Land Nehru Award (1975) for Vailaikkaram (Wrist with Bangles)[9]
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References
  1. Kolappan, B. (22 October 2014). "Writer Rajam Krishnan dead". The Hindu.
  2. Tharu, (ed), Susie (1993). Women Writing in India: The Twentieth Century. Feminist Press at CUNY. pp. 205–207. ISBN 9781558610293.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. "Open to life and art". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 4 January 2004. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  4. Susie Tharu and K Lalita, Women Writing In India Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206
  5. Tamil Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007 Archived 2010-01-24 at the Wayback Machine Sahitya Akademi Official website.
  6. "Works of writer Rajam Krishnan to be nationalised". Times of India. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  7. C. S. Lakshmi (4 January 2004). "Metaphor for a generation". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  8. Kumar, Sampath (17 July 2003). "India rights campaign for infanticide mothers". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  9. Susie Tharu and K Lalita, Women Writing In India (Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206
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