Living Tamil Literature Festival
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: வாழும் தமிழ் இலக்கியத் திருவிழா
Living Tamil Literary Festival: A literary festival created to present modern Tamil literature to global readers. Vishnupuram Literary Circle coordinates this event. The first event was conceived and executed in New York under the leadership of V. Soundartrajan on 3, 4 April 2026.
Introduction
The Living Tamil Literary Festival was started to present modern Tamil literature to global readers. The title Living Tamil was created by Kalam Selvam on behalf of Kalam magazine. For thirty years, he had been organizing literary festivals and book fairs on that topic in Canada. The organisers secured his permission to use that title for this festival. This is the global extension of the festival organized by Kalam Selvam.
On 26 November 2022, in Malaysia, M. Navin put forward the idea of creating a global festival for modern Tamil literature. Writer Jeyamohan developed his idea of holding it in Malaysia or Singapore and proposed that it be held in New York or Washington.
Vishnupuram Literary Circle America Coordinator V. Soundararajan supported the idea. Initiatives for the festival began in October 2024.
Declaration
'Bringing Modern Tamil Literature to the World' is declared as the goal of Living Tamil Literature Festival.
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.
Award
The conference's ideals are carried on by the Living Tamil organization, a distinct global organization founded in 2026 to bestow literary awards for accomplishments in international literature. Living Tamil Award for World Literature is the name of this honor. One crore Indian rupees is the value of this international prize.
New York Living Tamil Literary Festival 2026
The first edition of the Living Tamil Literary Festival was held on April 3 and 4 at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City under the leadership of V. Soundar Rajan, Vishnupuram Literary Circle USA. Thirty Tamil writers from India, Britain, Switzerland, Malaysia, and Singapore participated. 13 American writers participated as guests. In addition to the opening and closing ceremonies, two halls hosted 16 sessions. The younger generation born and raised in America coordinated the sessions.
Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam are the ambassadors of the event. V. Soundararajan, Maheshwari Ramar, and Rajan Somasundaram were the main coordinators of the event. A. Muttulingam and Jeyamohan are the main resource persons. Arun Mahizhnan is the external coordinator.The event was sponsored and supported by Takshashila University.
American Writers like Aniruddhan Vasudevan, Chad Post, Damion Searls, Esther Allen, Geoffrey Brock, Geraldine Elizabeth Walker Jenkins, Kareem James-Abu Zeid, Padma Viswanathan, Rohan Kamicheril, Peter Constantine, Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, Vivek Narayanan, Janika Oza Participated in the event.
Tamil writers like Kalam Selvam, R. Giridharan, Sayanthan, M. Navin, Aravin Kumar, Azhagunila, Chandra Thangaraj, Chaidhanya, Ilango Krishnan, Iswarya, Kalyanaraman, Kalaiselvi, Lakshmi Saravanakumar, S. Senthilkumar, Ajithan , Paavannan, Priyamvada Ramkumar, Suchitra, Ramya, Samraj, C. Saravanakarthikeyan, Senthil Jagannathan, Suneel Krishnan, Tamil Prabha, Thiruchendhaazhai, A. Vennila, Veyyil, Su. Venugopal, Yuvan Chandrasekar, Jeyamohan participated in the event.
London Living Tamil Literary Festival 2027
It was decided that the second edition of the Living Tamil Literary Festival would be held in London in 2027. It will be announced on the closing day of the New York festival.
References and lnks
- Living Tamil Litfest, Bringing Modern Tamil Literature to the world, Official website
- Living Tamil LitFest 2026: Tamil Literature goes to the diaspora
- As Tamil literature prepares to enter a global conversation! Times Now!
- Living Tamil LitFest: Modern Tamil Literature on the World Stage
- At A New York Literary Gathering, A Classical Indian Language Makes A Contemporary Global Claim
- Living Tamil LitFest to be held in New York will bring renowned literary figures from around the world
- Living Tamil LitFest: Modern Tamil Literature on the World Stage KNOX
- Living Tamil LitFest to take place in NYC
- A voyage to India - chadpost - Three percent magazine
✅Finalised Page
First published on: 24-Mar-2026, 10:59:24 IST
