Dhamayanthi (writer)

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Dhamayanthi is a Tamil fiction writer, poet, lyricist and film director. [1]

Contents

Life

Dhamayanthi was born in Tirunelveli, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Her parents were teachers, and she imbibed her love for reading and arts from them. She claims that the books her father would gift during her birthday and the inevitable loneliness of childhood made her develop immense interest in books, which later enabled her to develop her passion for writing. [1]

She did her B.A. in English from Sarah Tucker College, Tirunelveli, and her M.A. in English from St. John's, Tirunelveli. Her first couple of short stories were published around this time and she won cash prizes for both. Her subsequent short stories garnered attention and an anthology soon came out. She continued writing poetry, though her fiction was generating more attention and interest. She worked as a radio jockey and program produce in Tirunelveli before moving to Chennai to work as a writer in the film industry. She is a lyricist in the Tamil film industry and wrote many songs. Her first song was from the movie "Vizhithiru".[ citation needed ]

Career

She writes popular stories of intensity and depth. [2] She balances her deep concern with gender inequality and socio-political issues and her intent to narrate a tale that reveals the unpredictability of the human mind. [3] Her stories focus on the subtle power play in man-woman relationships in a family, which borders on physical violence, and the more obvious violence inflicted upon women. [1] She was inspired to study English literature after she discovered Emily Dickinson.

She published six short story collections, a novel and an essay collection. [4] She translated Sylvia Plath’s poetry into Tamil.

In television, she debuted as a script writer in Samuthirakani’s debutant serial produced by Minbimbangal. She directed documentaries on social issues and a docu-fiction on surrogate mothers. She co-wrote one of the three stories of Vizhithiru along with director Meera Kathiravan. She co-wrote the script for the Tamil film Vizhithiru (2018). She wrote lyrics for eleven other films. [5] She wrote a script for Bharat Bala and another to be directed by Kutti Revathi. Thadayam is based on her short story published in Ananda Vikatan . [3] Her short story on the thermal power station – the environmental devastation caused by its effluents – was made into a short film.

Selected works

Tamil books
Tamil songs

Awards

She was conferred The Hindu (Tamil) Bharathi award for her contribution to women's writing. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Thendral Tamil Magazine – எழுத்தாளர் – தமயந்தி". Tamilonline.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  2. V. Neelkandan (3 March 2017). "'சட்டமன்றத்தை இளைஞர்கள் கைப்பற்ற வேண்டும்!' – எழுத்தாளர் தமயந்தி – Assembly should be filled with youngsters, says writer Dhamayanthi". Vikatan.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Dhamayanthi on adapting her short story Thadayam for the big screen: 'Wanted to explore women's choices'". Firstpost.com. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  4. "தமயந்தி | சிறுகதைகள் (Short Stories in Tamil)". Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  5. Dinamalar (9 May 2015). "பாடலாசிரியரானார் எழுத்தாளர் தமயந்தி – Writer Damayanthi turn as Lyricist". Cinema.dinamalar.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  6. "Five Tamil writers to be honoured for their work". The Hindu. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.