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Sa. Kandasamy (23 July 1940[1] – 31 July 2020)[2] was a novelist and documentary film-maker from Mayiladuthurai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil for his novel, Vicharanai Commission in 1998.[2]

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Life

Kandasamy was born on 23 July 1940 in Mayiladuthurai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.[3] After studying at the Singaram Pillai School, he worked at the Chennai Port Trust and the Food Corporation of India.[4][5]

Kandasamy later moved to Chennai, and joined a writers' group that included writer S. Ramakrishnan and artist R.B. Baskaran. They briefly published a literary magazine, Ka Sa Da Tha Pa Ra.[4]

He died at the age of 80, after experiencing a heart attack.[6]

Literary career

Kandasamy's first novel was Saayavanam Puthinam, published in 1968. It was well-received and was later included by the National Book Trust as one of Indian literature's modern masterpieces.[3] Saayavanam is one of the earliest examples of literature focusing on ecological concerns in India, and focuses on forest clearances and industrial development in Tamil Nadu.[4] Kandasamy based on the novel on his own experiences in rural Tamil Nadu, and named the novel after a village that he had lived in with his family, as a child.[4]

His novel, Vicharanai Commission, which dealt with custodial violence and the police, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil in 1998.[5]

He has published seven novels and several collection of short stories, in Tamil. One of Kandasamy's novels, Tholaindhu ponavargal was adapted for television.[2]

In addition to fiction, Kandasamy wrote several pieces of criticism, focusing on visual arts and writing in Tamil Nadu, as well as introducing a series of Tamil biographies published by the Sahitya Akademi.[4]

Film Making

Kandasamy's documentary film, Kaval Deivangal, documented history and techniques relating to traditional terracotta art in South India.[4] It won the first prize at the Angino Film Festival, in Cyprus, in 1989.[7] In addition, Kandasamy also directed several other documentaries, primarily on popular Tamil writers and artists, including the sculptor S. Dhanapal, and writers Jayakanthan and Ashokamitran.[5]

Publications

Novels

• Saayavanam Puthinam
• Suriya Vamsam
• Visaranai Commission
• Avan Aanathu
• Tholaindhu Ponavargal (Those Who Are Lost)
• Perum Mazhai Natkal
• Neelavan

Awards and honors

• (1998) Sahitya Akademi Award - for his novel, Vicharanai Commission[2]
• (1995) Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship - for contributions to literature[2]

References

External links

• "Tamil Literature Writers". SeasonsIndia. Retrieved 9 August 2014.

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