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Prowling Cat
The poems of Malathi Maithri, Salma, Kutti Revathi and Sukirtharani so enraged the Establishment in Tamil Nadu, it was even suggested that the poets be burned alive… [Their] poems raise the banner of bold rebellion as they explore the marginalized world of women.’ – Paul Zacharia
In 2003, a group of men and women, setting themselves up as guardians of Tamil culture, objected publicly to the language of a new generation of women poets – particularly in the work of Malathi Maithri, Salma, Kutti Revathi and Sukirtharani – charging the women with obscenity and immodesty.
More than a decade later, a deep divide still persists in the way readers and critics perceive women poets. Tamil women poets have been categorized as ‘bad girls’ and ‘good girls’. The traditional values prescribed for the ‘good’ Tamil woman are fearfulness, propriety and modesty. Our poets have chosen, instead, the opposite virtues – fearlessness, outspokenness and a ceaseless questioning of prescribed rules. This anthology celebrates the poetry of the four poets through Lakshmi Holmström’s English translation.
In 2003, a group of men and women, setting themselves up as guardians of Tamil culture, objected publicly to the language of a new generation of women poets – particularly in the work of Malathi Maithri, Salma, Kutti Revathi and Sukirtharani – charging the women with obscenity and immodesty.
More than a decade later, a deep divide still persists in the way readers and critics perceive women poets. Tamil women poets have been categorized as ‘bad girls’ and ‘good girls’. The traditional values prescribed for the ‘good’ Tamil woman are fearfulness, propriety and modesty. Our poets have chosen, instead, the opposite virtues – fearlessness, outspokenness and a ceaseless questioning of prescribed rules. This anthology celebrates the poetry of the four poets through Lakshmi Holmström’s English translation.
17 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 21, 2014
About the author
Lakshmi Holmström
24 books23 followersLakshmi Holmström MBE (1 June 1935 – 6 May 2016) was an Indian-British writer, literary critic, and translator of Tamil fiction into English. Her most prominent works were her translations of short stories and novels of the contemporary writers in Tamil, such as Mauni, Pudhumaipithan, Ashoka Mitran, Sundara Ramasami, C. S. Lakshmi, Bama, and Imayam. She obtained her undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Madras and her postgraduate degree from University of Oxford. Her postgraduate work was on the works of R. K. Narayan. She was the founder-trustee of SALIDAA (South Asian Diaspora Literature and Arts Archive) – an organisation for archiving the works of British writers and artists of South Asian origin. She lived in the United Kingdom.
In 2000 she received the Crossword Book Award for her translation of Karukku by Bama; in 2007 she shared the Crossword-Hutch Award for her translation of Ambai’s short stories, In a Forest, a Deer; and she received the Iyal Award of the Tamil Literary Garden, Canada, in 2008. In 2003–06, she was a Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at the University of East Anglia.
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to literature.
She died of cancer on 6 May 2016.
In 2000 she received the Crossword Book Award for her translation of Karukku by Bama; in 2007 she shared the Crossword-Hutch Award for her translation of Ambai’s short stories, In a Forest, a Deer; and she received the Iyal Award of the Tamil Literary Garden, Canada, in 2008. In 2003–06, she was a Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at the University of East Anglia.
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to literature.
She died of cancer on 6 May 2016.
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August 5, 2014
3½ star - interesting poetry written by some very brave women!
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