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Living Tamil LitFest - 2026

Bringing Modern Tamil Literature to the World

Many of the best works of modern literature are written in Tamil. This initiative is to bring them to readers around the globe. Grand literary festivals are happening for many Indian languages in cities around the world. In them, a language’s literature is celebrated in its native tongue and in English. Vishnupuram Literary Circle is holding such a literary festival for Tamil. With this, it will introduce modern Tamil literary works to the next generation of Tamil people ​​who are born in foreign countries and grow up without Tamil in their lives. They are made aware of the creative arts stemming from their Tamil roots. The two full day’s events will have the following highlights.

Celebration of Modern Tamil Literature: Discover the richness of modern Tamil literary heritage with featured works by iconic authors such as Pudhumaipithan, Ka. Na. Subramaniam, Ku. Azhagirisamy, Sundara Ramaswamy, Ashokamitran, and K. Rajanarayanan. Explore the evolution of Tamil storytelling through novels, short stories, and essays that continue to shape contemporary thought.

Global Tamil Voices: Join celebrated Tamil writers from India, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Sri Lanka, Australia and America as they share insights on the global trajectory of Tamil literature—its past, its present trends, and its future direction.

Cross-Cultural Translations: Renowned translators share the experience they gain and editing challenges they face while faithfully translating texts.

Bilingual Engagement: All sessions will be conducted in English. Tamil-language discussions will include real-time English translations to ensure inclusive participation and accessibility for a global audience.

Interactive Literary Dialogues: Experience vibrant, thought-provoking conversations between authors and readers. These interactive sessions aim to bring literature to life, encouraging exploration, questions, and shared appreciation.

Program Directors

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Soundararajan Varathappan

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Rajan Somasundaram

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Maheswari Ramar

Soundararajan Varathappan
President

As the founder of Vishnupuram Literary Circle (USA), Soundararajan has been spearheading the translation team that translates Tamil fiction and non-fiction into English for the benefit of readers across the world. He organizes literary forums to introduce the writing of Tamil authors and poets to global readers. He writes articles on books, authors, and the literary programs that he conducts.

Rajan Somasundaram
Secretary

Rajan Somasundaram is a music composer with a focus on bringing musical form to literature. Rajan’s music album on Tamil Sangam era poetry became a top-10 bestseller on Amazon under the international music category. His musical tributes to modern Tamil literary personalities have received wide appreciation. He has composed music for commercial South Indian films as well.

Maheshwari Ramar
Events Coordinator

Maheswari Ramar is a software engineer by profession, and she has a hobby and passion for transforming world literature into visual poetry. By blending logic with imagination, she creates artwork for book covers and various literary publications, bringing stories to life with every stroke.

Arun Mahizhnan

Advisor

He has spent most of his career in culture and communications fields as practitioner, policy analyst and educator. He works for the Institute of Policy Studies and taught at the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University. Beyond his professional career, he has been active in serving the Tamil community. Over four decades, he has collaborated with government agencies and community organisations to develop the community’s intellectual and cultural resources. His current project is to launch the first Encyclopedia of Singapore Tamils, an online resource in Tamil and English.

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