Lakshmi Holmstrom

In 2003, a group of men and women, setting themselves up as guardians of Tamil culture, objected publicly to the language of a new generation of women poets - particularly in the work of Malathi Maithri, Salma, Kutti Revathi and Sukirtharani - charging the women with obscenity and immodesty. More than a decade later, a deep divide still persists in the way readers and critics perceive women poets. Tamil women poets have been categorized as 'bad girls' and 'good girls'. The traditional values prescribed for the 'good' Tamil woman are fearfulness, propriety and modesty. Our poets have chosen, instead, the opposite virtues - fearlessness, outspokenness and a ceaseless questioning of prescribed rules. This anthology celebrates the poetry of the four poets through Lakshmi Holmstrom's English translation.

Wild Words: Four Tamil Poets

Prose rendering of Cilappatikāram, ancient Tamil epic, by Iḷaṅkōvatikaḷ.

Kannagi

This book is a rendering in English of the Tamil epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai written by renowned Tamil poets. Silappadikaram is the story of Kovalan and Kannagi and of how Kannagi avenges the wrong done to her husband. Manimekalai is meant to be a sequel to Silappadikaram, being the story of Kovalan s daughter s renunciation. There are strong spiritual undertones in the story that give an insight into the religious influence of those times. The illustrations are by A V Illango who is a well-known name in the Indian art scene. His areas of interest are Tamil folklore and the mythology and temple architecture of Tamil Nadu.

Silappadikaram

In 2003, a group of men and women, setting themselves up as guardians of Tamil culture, objected publicly to the language of a new generation of women poets -- particularly in the work of Malathi Maithri, Salma, Kutti Revathi and Sukirtharani -- charging the women with obscenity and immodesty. More than a decade later, a deep divide still persists in the way readers and critics perceive women poets. Tamil women poets have been categorized as 'bad girls' and 'good girls'. The traditional values prescribed for the 'good' Tamil woman are fearfulness, propriety and modesty. Our poets have chosen, instead, the opposite virtues -- fearlessness, outspokenness and a ceaseless questioning of prescribed rules. This anthology celebrates the poetry of the four poets through Lakshmi Holmstrom's English translation.

Four Tamil Poets

Wild Word

Sascha Ebeling

Tamil Poems of the Sri Lankan Civil War

Lost Evenings, Lost Lives

Pāmā

This translation of the Tamil novel Sangati, is a fine example of Dalit writing, and flouts any received notions of what a novel should be. It has no plot in the normal sense, nor any main characters. In terms of structure, it seeks to create a Dalit-feminist perspective and explores theimpact of a number of discriminations--compounded above all, by poverty--suffered by Dalit women. There is one set of stories in the book, of women who have worked hard all their lives, from the moment they are able to help with the care of younger siblings, or with chores about the house, oroutside. Economic precariousness leads to a culture of violence of women by fathers, husbands, and brothers. Women fight back. Set against these are other stories, which tell of rites of passage, a coming of age ceremony, a betrothal, a group wedding, also of possession and exorcism. Sangati is abook about a community's identity, and ends on a personal note: that Paraiya women are always the most vulnerable, even when educated, independent, and living alone, like Bama herself.

Lakshmi Holmstrom

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