Rajam Krishnan (1924 or 1925 – 20 October 2014), was a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

writer from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Biography

Rajam Krishnan was born in

Musiri Musiri is a municipality in the Tiruchirappalli district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has an average elevation of 82 metres (269 feet). Etymology The original name of this town was "Musukundapuri", named after a Chola kin ...

, Tiruchirapalli district. She had very little formal education and appears to have been largely an autodidact. 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. 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.Susie Tharu and K Lalita, ''Women Writing In India'' Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206 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. In 1973, she was awarded the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for

for her novel ''Verukku Neer''.Tamil Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Official website. In 2009, her works were nationalised by the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

, for a compensation of Rs. 300,000. It was a rare occurrence as only works of dead writers are usually nationalised in Tamil Nadu.

Death

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

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 The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

International Award for a short story (1950) *Kalaimagal award (1953)(நாவல் 'பெண் குரல்') *

for

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)Susie Tharu and K Lalita, ''Women Writing In India'' (Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206

References

External links

Library of Congress page for Rajam Krishnan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnan, Rajam 1920s births 20th-century Indian women writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil Tamil writers People from Tiruchirappalli district 2014 deaths Women writers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian novelists Indian women novelists Novelists from Tamil Nadu