Program Moderators

Program Moderators

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Abirami Ravikumar

(Ashburn, Virginia)
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Anjali Prasad

(Livermore, CA)
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Anne Kasthuri Saverimuthu

(Toronto, Canada)
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Bharathi Kaliraj

(Irvine, CA)
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Gayathri Balaji

(Dallas, Texas)
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Jyoshitaa Mahendrarajan

(Vancouver, Canada)
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Jegadeesh Kumar

(Walterboro, SC)
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Megana Kumar

(Herndon, Virginia)
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Nivetha Sree Sekar

(Somerset, New Jersey)
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Pranav Ravikumar

(Ashburn, Virginia)
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Remitha Satheesh

(Raleigh, NC)
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R.S. Saha

(Austin, Texas)
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Sahana Kumar

(Herndon, Virginia)
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Shambhava Srikanth

(Portland, Oregon)
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Shreya Chandran

(Herndon, Virginia)
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Shrinidhi Sriram

(Irvin, CA)
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Siddharth Senthilvel

(Prosper, TX)
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Vaishalini Mylappan

(Somerset, New Jersey)
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Vikram Venkat

(Metuchen, New Jersey)
Abirami Ravikumar
(Ashburn, Virginia)

Abirami Ravikumar is a sophomore in high school. Abi is a soccer player and a Carnatic singer. Since childhood, Abi has always been an avid reader, and recently, she’s been gaining interest in classic Tamil and  English literature. Abi’s favorite genres include historical fiction and realistic fiction.

Anjali Prasad
(Livermore, CA)

Anjali Prasad is thrilled to be a part of the Living Tamil LitFest. She enjoys reading stories with fantastical elements that also explore and reflect the human experience. Beyond her love of literature, Anjali is heavily involved in her school’s theater program and deeply values the sense of community, creativity, and confidence it has provided her. She is especially proud to represent her identity as an Indian American and to connect with people who share her experiences, as well as with those whose experiences are different from her own.

Anne Kasthuri Saverimuthu
(Toronto, Canada)

​Anne Kasthuri Saverimuthu is a notable emerging actress and multifaceted artist whose roots in the performing arts run deep. Raised within a theatre-oriented community, she began her journey in Tamil Folk theatre, gaining invaluable experience. ​Anne’s artistic reach has garnered international attention through her work as a pageant queen, model, and actress. Notably, she was featured by the renowned digital artist Mad Dog Jones in his “AFTERLI-FE WORLD” exhibit, which toured Japan in 2019 for the Diesel Art Gallery. True to her creative nature, Anne is a writer and illustrator who has published her own works and contributed articles and reviews to local newspapers.  Anne is an avid solo traveler and enjoys her time immersing herself in different cultures. ​Anne continues to split her time between acting training and delving into her varied creative outlets, including painting and dance, constantly evolving her voice as a modern artist.

Bharathi Kaliraj
(Irvine, CA)

Bharathi is a second year Computer Science and Engineering student at UC Irvine with a strong passion for literature and film. She enjoys reading dystopian novels and Tamil translated stories, and values thoughtful discussions about them. She has also worked on student films and anchored school news programs, exploring storytelling in visual form.

Gayathri Balaji
(Dallas, Texas)

Gayathri Balaji is a high school senior. Growing up in the Indian Tamil American community, Gayathri was first introduced to the world of serious writing through her parents’ involvement with the Vishnupuram Literary Circle. This early exposure to quality writing led her to her current project of learning the foundational English and Russian classics. Recently, she has found translated Tamil literature as a meaningful way to connect with her heritage. She aspires to translate contemporary Tamil works that have personally impacted her and share that experience with the American audience.

Jyoshitaa Mahendrarajan Lavanya
(Vancouver, Canada)

Jyoshitaa Mahendrarajan Lavanya is a junior in high school and an avid reader with a deep love for Tamil literature. Over the past few years, she has immersed herself in the world of Tamil literature and translation, including participating in The Mozhi Prize competition, where she was awarded a special mention. She is currently in the process of publishing her own translated works and hopes to make Tamil literature more accessible to younger audiences growing up between cultures. Outside of reading and translating, she plays soccer, pursues her interest in science, and volunteers in her community. 

Jegadeesh Kumar
(Walterboro, SC)

Jegadeesh Kumar writes, both in English and Tamil, short stories, poems, and Eastern Philosophy. His work has appeared in The Prometheus Dreaming, Spillwords Press, The Defunct, Piker Press, Impspired, Consequence and elsewhere. He has published two works in translation: A Fine Thread and Other Stories by Jeyamohan, and  A Journey Through Words by Bava Chelladurai, which won the Translation Prize from the Canada Tamil Literary Garden in 2024. He is also the author of Porkugai Ragasiyam, a collection of short stories in Tamil. Jegadeesh lives in Walterboro, SC with his wife Anusha.

Megana Kumar
(Herndon, Virginia)

Megana Kumar is an avid reader and writer and a current student at the University of Virginia. She enjoys translating literary works from Tamil to English and writing analyses on them, and runs a book review channel on YouTube with her sister Sahana. Her works have been published by The Dreaming Magazine and Invisible. She hopes her work can reach Tamil American youth and serve as a way for them to connect to their roots. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking, reading comics, or drawing.

Nivetha Sree Sekar
(Somerset, New Jersey)

Nivetha Sree Sekar is a freshman Computer Science major at The College of New Jersey who is passionate about literature and art. She is currently engaged in reading and analyzing Greek literature, shaped by diverse student perspectives, while connecting its themes with Tamil literature. She enjoys sharing these parallels with her grandfather, who is equally passionate about Tamil literature.

Pranav Ravikumar
(Ashburn, Virginia)

Pranav Ravikumar is a high school student at a STEM school. He is passionate about learning science and technology. Growing with diverse friends in his school and community developed interests in him to explore a multitude of lives through varied literature. He is inspired to read and understand the culture and heritage of his root language, Tamil, and its literature vowing to spread its blossoms and legacy to the world.

Remitha Satheesh
(Raleigh, NC)

Remitha Satheesh is a Tamil–Malayalam–English translator and writer from Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, now living in Cary, North Carolina. A Knowledge Management Analyst by profession, she works across poetry, blogging, and translation. Her translations include B. Jeyamohan’s “Devi” (Usawa Literary Magazine), “Ya Devi” (Mozhi Prize longlist, 2022), and Still Eye by Ajithan Jeyamohan, which received a Special Jury Mention for the Mozhi Prize in 2024. She has also translated O. N. V. Kurup’s poetry, and her poems appear in NC Poetry Review, Bards Against Hunger, and Raleigh Review. She is currently translating a book‑length collection of Jeyamohan’s short stories. Her creative work also includes lyrics for Girl Power by Kira Mazur and the play Kaunteya, the Formidable First.

R.S. Saha
(Austin, Texas)

R.S. Saha is a Tamil American writer, translator, and the Associate Managing Editor of The Maine Review. They have been published by Baffling Magazine,  Kaalam Magazine, Unstamatic, and Strange Horizons. 

Sahana Kumar
(Herndon, Virginia)

Sahana Kumar is a high-school artist and literary enthusiast who has a YouTube channel with her sister, Megana, doing book reviews. She enjoys reading, and particularly likes reading translated works. Her translated work has been published in the Kyoto Journal. With her work, she hopes to create a larger avenue for Tamil literature in different parts of the world, and share the joy she finds in reading it. Other than reading, she loves writing, biking, and spending time with her friends.

Shambhava Srikanth
(Portland, Oregon)

In his second year studying poetry and fiction-writing at the Johns Hopkins University, Shambhava Srikanth is an avid reader of translated Tamil works. He has worked with some members of VLC in translating and editing Tamil short stories. In his free time, he practices Carnatic singing and plays the veena.

Shreya Chandran
(Herndon, Virginia)

Shreya Chandran is a senior at Northeastern University studying Chemical Engineering and Cultural Anthropology. Raised within the vibrant Washington, DC Tamil community and trained in Bharatanatyam for over a decade, she is passionate about art as a medium for cultural expression and continuity. In her free time, she enjoys literature, volunteering, and the outdoors.

Shrinidhi Sriram
(Irvin, CA)

Shrinidhi Sriram is a Presidential Scholar at the University of Southern California studying Philosophy, Politics, & Law. Her passion for advocacy and public service came largely from reading literature, and she believes that the written word has the ability to create influence and transform lives. Shrinidhi is thrilled to be part of the Tamil LitFest to represent her identity as an Indian American.

Siddharth Senthilvel
(Prosper, TX)

Siddharth is a Tamil-American writer, as well as a sophomore in high school. Having been writing his whole life, he’s recently taken to submitting for publication in literary journals. He hopes to do justice to the many authors, editors, and translators who have been invited to this event!

Vaishalini Mylappan
(Somerset, New Jersey)

Vaishalini Mylappan is a sophomore at Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School in Somerset, New Jersey. She has always loved reading and finds joy in getting lost in meaningful stories and poetry. She enjoys sharing her thoughts through book talks at local library events and appreciates how literature can bring people together and spark thoughtful conversations. Outside of her literary interests, she performs dance and violin solos and has completed gymnastics competitions and swimming programs. She hopes to continue exploring literature and learning from the many voices and perspectives it offers. As a graduate of Tamil school, Vaishalini continues to stay connected to her roots while growing as a reader and learner. She has participated in speech competitions and enjoys expressing herself through both speaking and writing.

Vikram Venkat
(Metuchen, New Jersey)

Vikram is a high school junior and a graduate of the Thiruvalluvar Tamil Palli, where he now serves as a student volunteer. He has a lifelong passion for history and likes to read historical fiction and non-fiction. He is also very interested in his own Tamil heritage, and enjoys reading translated Tamil short stories as well.

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.