Three notable Tamil women writers who have been influential in various genres ranging from poetry to novels and essays
Tamil literature, with its rich heritage that spans over two millennia, has seen immense contributions from women writers who have explored a variety of themes ranging from love, nature, social reform, gender equality, to personal and collective identity. Women Tamil writers have often had to break through social barriers to voice their perspectives and have played a crucial role in enriching Tamil literary tradition. One of the earliest women poets in Tamil literature is Avvaiyar, believed to have lived during different periods with the same name. The Avvaiyar(s) are renowned for their didactic compositions, most notably Aathichudi and Kondrai Vendhan, which serve as primary moral guidebooks even today. Here are three notable contemporary Tamil women writers who have been influential in various genres: poetry, fiction and essays:
1. Ambai (C.S. Lakshmi): A contemporary writer, researcher, and feminist, Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Ambai (84) is known for her short stories and essays that explore themes related to women’s lives and identities. In 1962, when she was still a teenager, Lakshmi published her first work Nandimalai Charalilae (At Nandi Hills). Her first serious work of fiction was the Tamil novel Andhi Maalai (Twilight) which came out in 1966. A year later, she received critical acclaim with the short story Siragukal muriyum (Wings will be Broken), which was published in book form as a part of short story collection under the same name in 1976. Veetin mulaiyil oru samaiyalarai (A kitchen in the corner of the house), her second Tamil short story collection, was published in 1988. This established her reputation as a major short story writer. Her work is characterised by her feminism, an eye for detail, and a sense of irony. Some of her works, including A Purple Sea (1992) and In A Forest, A Deer (2006), have been translated into English by Lakshmi Holmström. In 2021, she became the fourth woman writer from Tamil Nadu to get the Sahitya Akademi award for her short story collection, Sivappu Kazhutthudan Oru Patchaiparavai (A Red-necked Green Bird), which has been translated into English by GJV Prasad.
2. Sukirtharani: A feminist poet, widely acclaimed for her contribution to contemporary Dalit literature in Tamil, Sukirtharani (51), a Tamil teacher at the Government Girls High School in Ranipet district, has published six collections of poems. Her works, which have been described as celebratory towards the female body, chastises the oppressive caste system which encapsulates a dual experience of being born both a female and a Dalit. Her works have also been noted to have an eco-feminist approach to them. She has featured, alongside the poets Kutti Revathi, Malathi Maithri and Salma in Lakshmi Holmström’s translated compilation, Wild Girls Wicked Words. In her anthology, Holmström describes Sukirtharani as one who seeks ‘an infant language with all the rough and physical reality of new birth, sticky with blood.’ Her collections include Kaipattri Yen Kanavu Kel, Iravu Mirugam, Kaamatthipoo, Theendapadaatha Muttham, Avalai Mozhipeyarthal and Ippadikku Yeval. Many of her poems are taught in colleges across Tamil Nadu. In 2021, when Delhi University removed her writing from its syllabus, the decision was met with widespread criticism. Last year, she refused to accept the Devi Award presented to her after she learnt that the main sponsor of the award ceremony was the Adani group. Accepting the award “would have been antithetical to my principles, my body of writings and my philosophy for which I have stood so far,” she said in an interview.
3. Salma: A writer of Tamil poetry and fiction, Chennai-based Salma (56) is known for her outspokenness about taboo areas of the traditional Tamil women’s experience “with a language of compressed intensity and startling metaphoric resonance.” She has published two volumes of poetry: Oru Malaiyum Innoru Malaiyum (An Evening and Another Evening) and Pachchai Devadhai (Green Angel). Her debut novel, Irandaam Jaamangalin Kadhai (2004), revolves around the lives of women in a Muslim community of rural Tamil Nadu; it was considered a landmark achievement in Tamil. It was later translated into English as The Hour Past Midnight (2009) by Lakshmi Holmstrom; it was also longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Salma wrote a collection of short stories, Saabam (The Curse) in 2012 and a novel, Manaamiyangal (Dreams) in 2016. An activist for the cause of women’s empowerment, Salma was Chairperson of Tamil Nadu Government’s Social Welfare Board during 2007-11. She has faced great adversity, including obscenity charges and violent threats for her erotic poetry. Barred from education and confined to her home from the age of 13, Salma remained a voracious reader and fiercely committed closet writer. Also a political leader, she is the subject of an eponymous documentary film by British documentary filmmaker, Kim Longinotto. According to Arundhathi Subramaniam, Salma’s poetry breaks new ground in Tamil poetry for its articulation of an unapologetically subjective female worldview, its bold examination of life in a traditionally restrictive patriarchal context, its refusal to allow the erasure of personal memory.
