C. Subramania Bharati was an Indian writer, poet, journalist, teacher, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. He was bestowed the title Bharati for his poetry and was a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry. He is popularly known by his title Bharati or Bharathiyaar and also by the other title "Mahakavi Bharati". His works included patriotic songs composed during the Indian Independence movement. He fought for the emancipation of women, against child marriage, opposed the caste system, and advocated reforms of the society and religion.
D. Jayakanthan, popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, filmmaker, critic and activist. Born in Cuddalore, he dropped out of school at the age of 9 and went to Madras, where he joined the Communist Party of India. In a career spanning six decades, he authored around 40 novels, 200 short stories, apart from two autobiographies. Outside literature, he made two films. In addition, four of his other novels were adapted into films by others.
Kannadasan was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Frequently called Kaviarasu, With over 5000 lyrics, 6000 poems and 232 books, Kannadasan is widely known by the sobriquet Kaviarasu and he is also considered to be the greatest modern Tamil poet after Subramania Bharati. including novels, epics, plays, essays, his most popular being the 10-part religious book on Hinduism, Arthamulla Indhu Matham. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Cheraman Kathali in the year 1980 and was the first to receive the National Film Award for Best Lyrics, given in 1969 for the film Kuzhanthaikkaga. Like many great poets he also suffered from cyclothymia, which comes under bipolar disorder spectrum.
Palaniswamy, better known by his stage name Sivakumar, is an Indian visual artist and actor who has appeared in Tamil cinema and television. He made his acting debut in Kaakum Karangal (1965) and has worked in 195 movies, predominantly only in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Tanikella Bharani is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet and playwright who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including few in Tamil and Hindi; while he was also screenwriter for 52 films. He has won three Nandi Awards.
Thangar Bachan is an Indian film director and actor, cinematographer and novelist. He has served as jury member in National Film Awards.
S. Ramakrishnan is a writer from Tamil Nadu, India. He is a full-time writer who has been active over the last 27 years in diverse areas of Tamil literature like short stories, novels, plays, children's literature and translations. He has written and published 9 novels, 20 collections of short stories, 3 plays, 21 books for children, 3 books of translation, 24 collections of articles, 10 books on world cinema, 16 books on world literature including seven of his lectures, 3 books on Indian history, 3 on painting and 4 edited volumes including a Reader on his own works. He also has 2 collections of interviews to his credit. He won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2018 in Tamil language category for his novel Sanjaaram.
Gracy is a Malayalam author. Her first collection of short stories, Padiyirangippoya Parvati, was published in 1991. Her awards include the Lalithambika Antharjanam Award (1995), the Thoppil Ravi Award (1997), the Katha Prize for the Best Malayalam Short Story (1998) and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (2000). Her major works are Narakavaathil, Randu Swapna Darsikal, Kaveriyude Neru, Eezbu Penkathakal, Panikkannu and a collection, Gracyude Kathakal. Her stories have been translated into English, Hindi, Tamil and Oriya. She was the head of the Malayalam department, Al-Ameen college, Edathala, Aluva.
Rajam Krishnan, was a feminist Tamil writer from Tamil Nadu, India.
S. Krishnamoorthy or S. Krishnamurthy has been writing short stories and articles in English and Tamil for over four decades. He was also the winner of prestigious Sahitya Akademi prize for translation.
Bharathi Puthakalayam(Tamil: பாரதி புத்தகாலயம்) is a book publishing house in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is the publication wing of non profitable organization ‘Toiling Masses Welfare Trust’. Started in 2002, it has more than 1000 titles spread across the whole range of Popular Science, Literature, Literary Theory, Social Sciences, Philosophy, Fine arts. It has around 30 branches all over Tamil Nadu. It publishes children's literature through its imprint ‘Books for Children’. Books published by Bharathi have won awards including the Sahitya Academy award for Children's books for the year 2013, for its Fiction Vingnana Vikramathithyan by Ayisha.Era Natarasan.
D. Ravikumar is an Indian Tamil intellectual, writer, lawyer, politician and an anti-caste activist. He was the editor of the magazine, Nirapirikai. Nirapirikai inspired several new writers in the 1990s in Tamil Nadu. He is an Ambedkarite and Buddhist. Ravikumar is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Viluppuram and member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
M. L. Thangappa was a Tamil writer and translator. He wrote many poems, articles and translations.
Joba Murmu is an Indian writer and litterateur who is known for her works in Santali literature. She received the Sahitya Akademi's Children's Literature Award on November 14, 2017 due to her language contribution to Santali literature.
