TN teacher Jeyasri wins 2019 Sahitya Akademi for translation, leaders congratulate her

KV Jeyasri had translated Malayalam writer Manoj Kuroor’s novel ‘Nilam Poothu Malarnna Naal’ into Tamil.

news Sahitya Akademi Awards 2019

Tamil teacher from Tiruvannamalai KV Jeyasri has won the 2019 Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize (Tamil) for her translation of Malayalam writer Manoj Kuroor’s novel Nilam Poothu Malarnna Naal into Tamil. The translated book is titled Nilam Poothu Malarntha Naal. The 2019 Sahitya Akademi award for translations was announced on Tuesday evening.

Nilam Poothu Malarnna Naal novel is Jeyasri’s 12th translation. She is a Tamil teacher for class 12 at a government school in Tiruvannamalai.

In an interview with The Hindu, the translator had said that she only translates books that capture her passion. According to the report, she is currently translating IAS officer KV Mohankumar’s novel Ushnarasi. Born to parents hailing from Kerala, Jeyasri had shared that she acquired her passion for reading from her mother.

Nilam Poothu Malarnna Naal, which translates to ‘the day the land bloomed and blossomed’, is a saga that traces the socio-cultural history of the Dravidian land in all its natural beauty with the mountains and the sea and lush green lands, across centuries, especially the Sangam period. The novel sketches the lives of poets and artists of the period.

Congratulations came pouring in for Jeyasri soon after the announcement, including from prominent leaders such as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, DMK leader MK Stalin, his son and actor Udhayanidhi Stalin, Paatali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S Ramadoss, Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, Tamil film director Seenu Ramaswamy and many others.

மலையாள எழுத்தாளர் மனோஜ் குரூரின் நாவலை தமிழில் நிலம் பூத்து மலர்ந்த நாள் என்ற தலைப்பில் மொழிபெயர்த்ததற்காக சாகித்ய அகாடமி விருது பெற்ற எழுத்தாளரும், மொழிபெயர்ப்பாளருமான ஆசிரியை கே.வி.ஜெயஸ்ரீ அவர்களுக்கு வாழ்த்துகள்! அவரது இலக்கிய பணியும், சாதனைகளும் தொடரட்டும்! — Dr S RAMADOSS (@drramadoss) February 25, 2020

Author and politician Shashi Tharoor, Tamil novelist Cho Dharman, Kannada writer, critic and journalist Vijaya, Malayalam poet V Madhusoodanan Nair and Telugu writer Bandi Narayana Swamy were among 2019’s Sahitya Akademi awardees, which was announced in December 2019. Tamil writer Cho Dharman received it for his novel Sool.

Last year, the award for translation (Tamil) was received by Colachel Mu Yoosuf for his work Tirutan Maniyanpillai, a Tamil translation of Malayalam writer GR Indugopalan’s autobiography, Manian Pillaiyuda Athma Katha.