THOOTHUKUDI: Karisal (black soil) literature has done it again. Writer Sa Tamilselvan recently won the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2025, making him the eighth recipient from Kovilpatti to receive the prestigious award.
The Sahitya Akademi has conferred the award on the writer for his work on “Thamiz Sirukathaiyin Thadangal”, which details the evolution of short stories in Tamil Nadu, since the beginning of the 20th century. In the 895-page book, Tamilselvan vividly discusses the history and contributions of 60 writers between 1920 and 1970.
Tamilselvan has authored more than 60 books and essays on gender equality, science, history, and the freedom movement. Born at Nagalapuram in Thoothukudi on November 29, 1953, Tamilselvan has been a writer since the 1970s, and is one of the followers of iconic Karisal literature writer Ki Rajanarayanan of Kovilpatti.
His father, M S Shanmugam, a native of Nenmeni Mettupatti of Virudhunagar, was also a writer attached to the Dravidian movement. Tamilselvan started to write poems in magazines from his college days in Kovilpatti.
The 70-year-old writer told TNIE that short story is a Western concept developed during the era of rapid industrialisation. As many started taking up jobs at factories and industries, the habit of reading novels declined slowly, resulting in the emergence of short stories.
Tamilselvan said that the first poem he wrote was published in a monthly literary magazine, Neelakuyil, in 1970, and his first short story was published in 1978 on “Thamarai”.
Following graduation, Tamilselvan served the Indian Army as a warrant officer between 1974 and 1978, and subsequently landed a job at the postal department, where he worked until his superannuation in 2002. For five years, between 1989 and 1994, Tamilselvan volunteered for the “Arivoli Iyakkam” in Tirunelveli. “I used to send my poems to various publications while working in the Army,” recalled Tamilselvan, who is a recipient of the “Best Story Writer” award for the film “Poo” in 2008.
He said firecracker and safety match factories rapidly cropped up across the karisal region between Thirumangalam and Kayathar because of cheap labour, as many in the region had quit agriculture due to poor rainfall. “Several hundred people die in accidents at firecracker and safety match factories every year,” he said, adding that they sacrifice their lives so others can enjoy bursting crackers during festivals. “Is there any pride to chest-beat about the industrial development, when human life is lost or least bothered?” he asked.
“With the state pioneering in agriculture engineering and advancements, the government must promote agriculture in the region with subsidies, and other risk-free industries such as printing and paper factories, as human life is of greater significance,” he said.
Tamilselvan is currently working on the second part of his award-winning work, with this time the book focusing on the role of short story writers between 1970 and 2000.
Seven other Kovilpatti writers who previously won the prestigious award are Ku Alagirisamy in 1970, Ki Rajanarayanan (1991), Ilambarathi (1998), Poomani (2014), Cho Dharman (2019), Sabarinathan (2019), and Udhayasankar (2023).
Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association state vice-president K Udhayasankar told TNIE that regional literature emphasises the plurality of a language and describes the uniqueness of the people influenced by the regional culture, tradition, food, and livelihood. Kovilpatti was a strong bastion of the Communist Party of India, which popularised the reading habit among the public and college students, he said. Further, he added that Kovilpatti emerged as the crux of Karisal Vattara Ilakiyam (black soil regional literature) after Ki Ra, the father of karisal literature, released a book collecting short stories contributed by 23 writers from the karisal region in 1982. At that time, mainstream writers strongly criticised vattara ilakiyam (regional literature), however, Ki Ra strengthened it by compiling Karisal Vattara Sol Agarathi — a dictionary on regional words in usage, he added.