Agni Sukumar

இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: அக்கினி சுகுமார் ‎

Agni Sukumar

Agni Sukumar (October 8, 1955 - October 3, 2019) was one of the pioneers of modern poetry in Malaysia. In 1977, he co-founded the Vanambadi daily magazine with friends, which spawned a modern poetry movement and created many young poets in Malaysia.

Personal Life

Sukumar was the real name of Agni Sukumar. He was born on October 8, 1955 as the last son to Vellathurai and Pasupathiammal. He had a brother and a sister. He went with his mother to Tamil Nadu and studied there until college. As a second year BA History student at Karur Government College, he returned to Malaysia to renew his passport but was unable to go back to Tamil Nadu and his college education was abruptly stopped. He married Padmini on October 10, 1984, who is also a writer. He has three children. Agni Sukumar died of cancer on October 3, 2019.

Literary Life

Agni Sukumar started reading Russian literature at an early age because he was close to his uncle, a member of the Communist Party. He became an avid reader of Jayakanthan because of his leftist leanings in his works. He became a poet in the 70s after reading Bharathiyar and Kasi Anandan. His first work was a traditional poem written in 1974 in the Tamil Malar daily magazine. Later when he began writing modern poetry in the Tamil Malar magazine, he faced opposition from traditional poets. In 1977, Aadhi Kumanan, Rajakumaran, and Agni Sukumar started a weekly magazine together. Agni Sukumar named the magazine Vanambadi. He was influenced by the Vanambadi poets of Tamil Nadu. Vanambadi magazine kick started the modern poetry movement in Malaysia. In 1984, Agni Sukumar published his new book of poetry, Kana Magudangal.

Agni Sukumar was not only a poet, he was also a writer and an essayist who continuously wrote on various subjects such as science, sports, politics, literature, and religion. He published a novella called Pattupuzhukkal in 1980 for the one-novella-a-month project initiated by Vanambadi.

Journalism

Agni Sukumar never ventured into any other profession besides journalism. He consistently worked to maintain various daily, weekly, and online magazines such as Tamil Malar (1973-1978), Vanambadi (1978-1980), Tamil Osai (1981-1989), Malaysia Namban (1990-2003), Makkal Osai (2003-2005), Tamil Kural (2006-2007), Tamil Nesan (2007-2013), Vanakkammalaysia.com (2014-2019). He prioritized modern poetry and wrote political articles in all the newspapers he worked in.

He wrote about the Palestinian struggle and the Eelam struggle. On April 10, 2002, Agni Sukumar attended an international press conference hosted by LTTE national leader Prabhakaran. He wrote about the perilous circumstances surrounding his experience interviewing the LTTE leader under the title Manne Uyire. It is considered an important documentation.

Literary Significance

A generation of young modern poets, who wrote poetry comparable to the Vanambadi poets of Tamil Nadu, emerged through the Vanambadi magazine. Agni Sukumar, who had read a lot of literature in English, wrote science articles in a style that was plain and easy flowing which replaced the dry prose that existed until then.

Prizes, Awards

• Government Award for Best Writer (Ministry of Youth and Sports)- 1986
• Government Award for Best Writer (Ministry of Youth and Sports) - 1988
• Ministry of Health Best Writer Award - 2013
• Don Sri Aathi Nahappan Award - 2015
• Tamilaruvi Award - 2017

Literary Works

• Pattu Puzhukkal - novella (1980)
• Kana Magudangal - Modern Poetry (1984)
• Manne Uyire - Travelogue (2007)
• Iraiyai Iru Kana - Modern Poetry (2019)

Links

• Meendu Nilaitha Nilalgal - M. Navin

External Links

• Agni Sukumar Documentary part 1
• Agni Sukumar Documentary part 2

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✅Finalised Page