M.A. Elanjselvan
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: எம். ஏ. இளஞ்செல்வன்
M.A. Elanjselvan (February 11, 1948 – August 28, 2000) was the pioneer of modern poetry movement in Malaysia in the 70s. His birth name was M. Ramu. Elanjselvan penned not only modem poems but also short stories and novels.
Early Life
M.A. Elanjselvan was born on February 11, 1948, at Bedong in Kedah province. He completed his primary education at St. Theresa English School in Sungai Petani. Elanjselvan learnt Tamil on his own.
Private Life
After completing his secondary school education, M.A. Elanjselvan joined Teacher Training College and became a Tamil teacher.He continued his service as headmaster till the end.
M.A. Elanjselvan's wife Sundarambal was also a writer and they had four children: two sons and two daughters.
Literary Life
M.A. Elanjselvan started writing traditional poems for Indian Movie News magazine during mid 1970s. Elanjselvan became interested in modern poetry later. In 1979, he published Malaysia’s first Modern poetry book Neruppu Pookal (Flowers of Fire). M.A. Elanjselvan founded 'Navina Ilakkiya Sindanai (Modern Literary Thought) forum jointly with C. Muthusamy and Neelavannan and organized the first modern Tamil poetry seminar in Malaysia in 1979. During the seminar, M.A. Elanjselvan compiled modern poetry of twenty two writers into a book and published it under title Pulligalai Purakkanikkum Pudhukolangal (New patterns that cross the boundaries) through Navina Ilakkiya Sindanai forum. Elanjselvan organized another national conference on modern poetry in 1989.
M.A. Elanjselvan received attention among the youth of the day for his strong responses to the criticism from traditional writers when modern poetry was beginning to develop in Malaysia. In this way, Elanjselvan was an attractive pioneer for young people to continue to get interested in modern poetry. 'M.A. Elanjselvan's photos featured along with his works published in the film magazine Indian Movie News received celebrity status par with a film star’ remarked the subsequent generation writer K. Punniyavaan.
M.A. Elanjselvan's contribution was not only to poetry but also to short stories and novels. During the 70s and 80s, Elanjselvan published two short story collections: Therupuzhuthi (Street Dust) (1977) and Muchandi Malargals (Flowers at a junction) (1978), as well as two short novels: Pasithirukum Ilangosukal (Hungry Young Mosquitoes) (1978) and Mogangal (Infatuations) (1980). In 1999, Elanjselvan compiled all his short stories into a book M.A. Elanjselvan Sirukathaigal and compiled four short novels: Vaanam Kanatha Vimanangal (Planes that never seen the sky), Mogangal, Pasithirukum Ilangosukal, Kanakambaramum Kilinjal Malargalum (crossandra and seashell flowers) into another book Vaanam Kanatha Vimanangal.
In 1969, M.A. Elanjselvan formed the 'Kedah Province Tamil Writers Movement' with the help of fellow writers and conducted a series of literary workshops and literary meets. M.A. Elanjselvan also introduced the Tamil writers like Saavi, Indira Parthasarathy, Sivasankari, Jayakanthan, Mu. Metha, Vasanthi, S. Ponnuthurai (Sri Lanka), Arivumathi, Sirpi, Thamizhanban and many others, to the writers of Kedah Province through programs and bridged conversations amongst them. M.A. Elanjselvan also helped in developing young writers.
Literary Significance
Jayakanthan was M.A. Elanjselvan’s role model. With lack of understanding about Jayakanthan's writings, Elanjselvan supposed the modern writing as to write the sexual transgressions. So Elanjselvan could not create the possibility of reaching out to unique realities of life, other than delivering a cultural shock to the readers through his novels. His modern poems were also written as Vanambadi type dramatic poems. Elanjselvan's accomplishments were in short stories primarily. Short stories like Pakki (Balance) and Therupuzhuthi are notable in Malaysian literature. He is also known for pioneering Modern Poetry Movement in Malaysia.
Death
M.A. Elanjselvan passed away on August 28, 2000.
Works
Short stories
- Therupuzhuthi (1977)
- Muchandi Malargals (1978)
- Ilanchelvan Sirukathaigal (1999)
Novels
- Pasithirukum Ilangosukal (1978)
- Mogangal (1980)
- Vaanam Kanatha Vimanangal (1999)
Modern Poetries
- Neruppu Pookal (1979)
- Pulligalai Purakkanikkum Pudhukolangal (Editor) 1979
- Imaikatha Suriyangal (Editor) 1985
References
- Manase Manase - Sundarambal Elanjselvan
Links
✅Finalised Page
