Ka. Naa. Subramanyam (31 January 1912 – 18 December 1988) was a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

writer and critic from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He is also popularly known by his Tamil initials as Ka. Naa. Su.

Biography

Subramanian was born on 31 January 1912 in

Valangaiman Valangaiman (also spelt as Valangiman) is a town Panchayat in the Valangaiman taluk of Thiruvarur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Valangaiman Taluk. Geography Valangiman has an elevation of . It is situat ...

Thanjavur District Thanjavur District is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur (Tanjore) . The district is located in the delta of the Cauv ...

. His first noted published work was the novel ''Poithevu'' (1946). He also wrote poems under the pseudonym ''Mayan''. He published many literary journals like ''Ilakkiya vattam'', ''Sooravali'' and ''Chandraodayam''. He became a literary critic in the 1950s, publishing reviews first in the magazines ''Swadesamitran'' and ''Saraswathi''. He was a friend and contemporary of fellow literary critic

C. S. Chellappa Cinnamanur Subramaniam Chellappa () (29 September 1912 – 18 December 1998) was a Tamil writer, journalist and Indian independence movement activist. He belonged to the "Manikodi" literary movement along with Pudhumaipithan, Ku Pa Ra, Va. Rama ...

with whom he was involved in a long literary feud. He was considered as a right-winger and

Anti-Marxist Criticism of Marxism has come from various political ideologies, campaigns and academic disciplines. This includes general intellectual criticism about dogmatism, a lack of internal consistency, criticism related to materialism (both philosoph ...

by left-leaning Tamil writers. In 1965, he moved to

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and started writing articles for English-language newspapers. For the next twenty years he lived in Delhi and moved back to Chennai only in 1985. In 1986, he 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 his literary criticism ''Ilakkiyathukku oru Iyakkam'' (lit. A Movement for Literature). After his return to Chennai, he started writing for Tamil magazines like ''

Kungumam Kumkuma is a powder used for social and religious markings in India. It is made from turmeric or any other local materials. The turmeric is dried and powdered with a bit of slaked lime, which turns the rich yellow powder into a red color. In ...

'', ''Mutharam'', Dina mani Kathir and ''

Thuglak ''Thuglak'' () is a Tamil language weekly news magazine. It has now expanded Digitally with an active Youtube Channel calle''Thuglak Digital''and a X(previously known as Twitter) account also under the same page nam''Thuglak Digital'' History ...

''.

Pondicherry University Pondicherry University, also known as PU, is a central research university located in Kalapet, Pondicherry in Union Territory of Puducherry, India. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985 by the Department of Higher Education, Min ...

made him an honorary professor. He died in 1988. The

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

nationalised his works in 2006.

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 off ...

Official website.

Awards and recognitions

for Ilakkiyathukku oru Iyakkam (Literary criticism) (1986) *

award for the short story ''Kodhai Sirithaal'' *

Kumaran Asan Mahakavi Kumaran Asan (12 April 1871 – 16 January 1924) was a poet of Malayalam literature, Indian social reformer and a philosopher. He is known to have initiated a revolution in Malayalam poetry during the first quarter of the 20th century, ...

award

Partial bibliography

Novels

*''Sarmavin uyil'' *''Pasi'' *''Vaazhndavar kettal *''Sakthi vilasam'' *''Ezhu per'' *''Oru naal'' *''Puzhithi ther'' *''Maalthedi'' *''Nadutheru'' *''Gopuravaasal'' *''Poithevu'' *''Asurakanam'' *''Pithappoo'' *''Kothai Sirithall''

Short story collections

*''Manikoondu'' *''Adarangu'' *''Karugadha mottu'' *''Kannan En Thozhan''

Literary criticism

*''Vimarsana kalai'' *''Padithirukireergala'' *''Ulagathu sirandha novelgal'' *''Ilakkiya Visaaram''

Translations

*''Anbuvazhi'' *''Thabaal kaaran'' *''Madhaguru'' *''Nilavalam'' *''Vilangupannai'' (

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

) *''Devamalar'' *''kaali''

English books

*''Tiruvalluvar'' and his ''Tirukkural''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanyam, Ka. Naa. 1912 births Writers from Tamil Nadu Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil Tamil writers 1988 deaths Indian Tamil people 20th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian short story writers Indian literary critics 20th-century Indian novelists Writers from Thanjavur district