Suchitra

Suchitra

இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: சுசித்ரா ‎

Suchitra (Suchitra Ramachandran) (December 16, 1987) is a Tamil writer and translator. Suchitra writes short stories, literary reviews and translates between Tamil and English. Suchitra raises fundamental questions of existentialism in artistic and scientific contexts in her writings. Her short story Oli (Light), which talks of life from the perspective of a European painter, was well received by readers and critics.

Birth, Studies

Suchitra was born to Ramachandran and Janaki on December 16, 1987 at Mylapore in Chennai. She was named Kodhai when she was born. Suchitra attended schools in Coonoor, Chennai, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Madurai, and completed her schooling from T.V.S. Lakshmi Higher Secondary School, Madurai. Afterwards, Suchitra completed her engineering course at Kamaraj College, Virudhunagar.

Suchitra subsequently earned a doctorate in Neuroscience. She studied the ability of brain learning its own arrangement (statistical learning) at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA.

Private Life

Suchitra married to Varun, a scientist on June 1, 2014 and they have a Son: Rakendu. Suchitra works as a scientist in a Switzerland laboratory and currently lives there with her family.

Books

Suchitra quotes pioneers Ki. Rajanarayanan, Jayakanthan, Jayamohan, Ursula Le Guin and Isak Dinesen as her inspirations in literature, and her first work Kudai (Umbrella) (short story) was presented and discussed at the readers meet organized by Vishnupuram Readers Circle in 2017. This story was not published in magazines or in any collections. Suchitra also writes science fiction stories and her science fiction short story Siragathirvu was the first one to get published in Padhaakai magazine in 2017.

Speaking about her stories in the foreword to Oli collection, Suchitra mentions that 'I feel myself, not only in the tradition of my language but also in the great tradition of creating stories to make sense of this cosmic space through human intelligence. Morals - valor - fury, Grace - kindness - humanity, Penance - beauty - almighty, all happened through the story'.

Translation Works

• Jeyamohan's short story Periamma's Sorkal was translated to English as Periyamma’s Words and published in Asymptote magazine in 2017
• A. Muttulingam's Aattupal Puttu (Goatmilk Puttu) was translated to English and published in Narrative Magazine
• Translation of Jeyamohan's Devaki Chithiyin Diary

Literary Significance

Suchitra's stories that attempt fundamental philosophical enquiries, are noteworthy. Suchitra uses scientific symbolisms to carry out such inquiries in science fictions. Suchitra is one of the prominent writers spearheading the revival of science fiction in Tamil. Speaking on today's science fiction, Suchitra says, "Flexibility in the science fiction stories that are being written today is evolving in a way to transcend the boundaries and stand as true stories".

Her stories apart from being elegant in narrative raise strong questions without taking them lightly. Critic Priyamvada notes that her stories encompass, for example, the contradiction between art and science, the resulting conflicts, what art gives to man, and how society and state instill a sense of fear into individuals, etc.

Awards

• 2017 - Asymptote, international award for the translation work of Periamma's Sorkal, a fictional story

• 2020 - Young Writer award from Vasaga Salai for Oli story collection

Publications

• Oli (2020, Yavarum Publishers)

References

• Akasamittai | Literature, art, philosophy | Bilingual – Tamil & English
• South Asia Speaks - CLASS OF 2022

Links

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