Sirpi Balasubramaniam (born 29 July 1936) is 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 ...

poet, critic, scholar and professor 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.

Biography

Balasubramaniam was born in Aaththupollachi village in Pollachi

Coimbatore District Coimbatore District is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialized districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, educa ...

. He obtained his MA from

Annamalai University The Annamalai University (AU) is a public state university in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The sprawling campus offers courses of higher education in arts, science, engineering, management, humanities, agriculture, and physical education. ...

and PhD from

Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

. He worked as a lecturer in NGM college,

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and municipality in Coimbatore district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Pollachi taluk. It is situated near the center of the South Indian Peninsula, surrounded by Western Gha ...

. He then became a Professor at the Tamil department of

Bharathiar University Bharathiar University is a public state university in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Named after Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, the university was established in February 1982 under the provision of Bharathiar University Act, 1981 (Act 1 of 1 ...

. He eventually became the head of the Department. He was a founding member of the Vanambadi literary movement in the 1970s. He edited the movement's flagship journal of the same name and also another literary magazine called ''Annam vidu thoothu''. He has published more than a dozen works of poetry and literary criticism in his literary career. In 2003, 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 poetry collection ''Oru Giraamattu Nadhi '' (lit. River in a Hamlet ). He had earlier won the

Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize or Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation is a literary honour in India, presented by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, given to "outstanding translations of creative and critical works" in 24 ...

in 2001 for his translation of

Lalithambika Antharjanam Lalithambika Antharjanam (30 March 1909 – 6 February 1987) was an Indian author and social reformer best known for her literary works in the Malayalam language. She was influenced by the Indian independence movement and social reform movement ...

's '' Agnisakshi'' into Tamil. He is the current convener of the Akademi's Tamil advisory board.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 off ...

Official website. The English translation of his poem collection ''Poojiyangalin Sangili'' is published by Jayanthasri Balakrishnan as ''The Chain of Absolutes''.

Awards and recognitions

Bharathidasan Bharathidasan Birth name: K. Subburathinam, the person's given name: Subburathinam, father's given name: Kanagasabai. (K. Subburathinam by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subburathinam Kanag ...

award (1987) *

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 ...

award *

Tamil University The Tamil University is a public state university located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established to provide higher research in the Tamil language. Location The university is situated in a campus of about , granted by the State go ...

award *Sahitya Akademi Award for translation (2001) *Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil (2003) *Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar Birthday Commemoration Award (2006) *Lifetime Literature Achievement Award - (Puthiyathalaimurai Tamilan Awards 2018) * Padmashri Award (Government of India)(2022)

Partial bibliography

Poetry

*''ilanthamizhae''(1963) *''Nilakokru'' (1963) *''Siritha muthukkal'' (1968) *''Sarapa Yagam'' (1976) *''Mounamayakkangal'' (1982) *''Sooriya nizhal'' (1990) *''Irahu'' (1996) *''Margazhip paavai'' (2010) *''Poojayangalin Sangili'' *''Bharathi Kaithi En 203''

Literary criticism

*''Ilakkiya chinthanai'' (1989) *A Comparative study of Bharathi and

Vallathol Vallathol is an Indian Malayalam name that may refer to *Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878–1958), Malayalam poet ** Vallathol Award ** Vallathol Museum in Thrissur District, India ** Vallathol Nagar railway station in Thrissur District, India * Vall ...

*''Sirpiyin katturaikal'' (1996) *''Ramalinga vallalirin arutpa thirattu'' (2001)

References

*Translating the pains of Endosulfan Victims B.Meenakshi Sundaram https://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2035204 *Lifetime Literature Achievement Award(Puthiyathalaimurai Tamilan Awards 2018) - http://www.puthiyathalaimurai.com/news/special-news/50385-puthiyathalaimurai-tamilan-awards-2018.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Balasubramaniam, Sirpi Living people Poets from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian translators Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil Tamil writers 1936 births Annamalai University alumni Indian Tamil people 20th-century Indian poets Indian literary critics People from Coimbatore district Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education