Wordsmiths @ Katha

They are the masters of the written word. Every emotion in the spectrum of the human heart; every bhaasha and dialect in the country; every experience strong, light, subtle, sublime - they capture it intact, perfection limning every stroke, and deliver it to you. They come from every region of India - from the unexplored Northeast to the fiery deserts of the West. From snowy Northern peaks, to the rolling plains of the Deccan, the tapering lands of the South. They are the wordsmiths of Katha.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

La Sa Ra

(Lalgudi Saptharishi Ramamirtham)

Lalgudi Saptarishi Ramamirtham, familiar to his readers as La Sa Ra, is the author of seven novels, two memoirs, two books of essays and several short story collections, and has been translated into Czech and French. Like Kafka, Ramamirtham spent most of his working life in the bank. He won instant critical acclaim in 1948 with the publication of three short stories – Janani, Yogam and Pralayam. Despite his difficult style, Ramamirtham’s writing strikes a chord with the reader because of its arresting symbolism and musicality. In 1989 he won the Sahitya Akademi award for Chintha Nadi – his collection of autobiographical essays.

La Sa Ra's work "The Stone Laughs and Atonement" has been translated from Tamil by Padma Narayanan for Katha.

Labels: La Sa Ra, Tamil Fiction