A talk with Sidharth from The Hindu about Living Tamil LitFest New York
How did the idea of organizing a Tamil literature festival abroad originate, and what are the primary objectives of the festival?
Last year, my collection of short stories, “Stories of the True,” was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) in the USA. I traveled from the west to the east coast of the country to promote the book. During this trip, I met many young readers, a lot of whom were children from the Indian diaspora who were born and raised in the USA. They can’t read their mother tongue, but they were very eager to learn about India and Tamil Nadu.
The students in the USA included many from African and Latin American nations, and they are also eager to understand the distinctly different culture and spirituality that my book presents.
This experience inspired me to organize a festival in New York aimed at capturing the attention of American readers. We hope to provide them with a much-needed aesthetic introduction to a completely new culture and literature. Furthermore, our goal is to introduce contemporary Tamil literature to American-born Indian children in the United States.
Are similar festivals organized for other Indian languages?
There are many cultural events in the USA; however, a festival dedicated exclusively to modern writing in a regional Indian language is being organized for the first time.
How is the Living Tamil Lit Fest funded?
We are organizing three small literary festivals in India each year, along with one annual literary gathering in the USA. All of these events are funded by donations from our readers. This festival is quite significant, and we have received support from two institutions: RUGR LTD, based in Mumbai, and Thiru Publications, located in London.
What challenges have you faced, or are you currently facing, in organizing the event?
We have a large circle of friends and readers in the usa and in india who are well-trained in organizing literary events, so everything is going smoothly. Our major challenge was obtaining visas for Tamil writers to enter the USA, but we achieved that patiently. The second major challenge is gaining recognition from American intellectuals for the festival, as we are new to the American literary scene. However, with the help of our editor, Rohan, at FSG, we were able to resolve that issue as well.
The event’s website states that translated Tamil works will be available for purchase. Could you share a few of the titles that you plan to feature?
We are planning to publish two anthologies of short stories written by the participants of this festival. The titles are “Born with the Southern Wind: Tamil Short Stories” and “The Sound of the Eastern Waves: New Tamil Short Stories.” The stories are selected and compiled by American translator Jagtheesh Kumar, and they are edited by Hill House Editing (USA). Both books are published by Thiru Publications (UK).
Could you elaborate on the themes around which the discussion sessions are being planned?
There is always pressure from readers to publishers for discernible reading. This is quite natural; however, in today’s commercial world, this pressure is becoming a grand standardizing force, slowly wiping out our distinct cultural details and aesthetic plurality in literature. Books that reflect conventional political correctness and having usual Western way of expression are the only ones being appreciated. We need to educate readers about the aesthetic multiplicity of world literature. This will be our primary focus of discussion. The cry of indigenous writing today is, “We offer something new to you; please come towards us, don’t pull us toward you.” We aim to present this message.
As 2026 marks five years since the launch of the US branch of the Vishnupuram Literary Circle, and with a new branch established in Vienna last year, what message would you like to convey to other literary circles on successfully growing and broadening their reach?
We started the Vishnupuram Literary Circle in 2009 and began presenting awards in 2010. We give three major awards each year and organize three literary festivals alongside them. We conduct nearly ten literary events almost every weekend, both in India and abroad. We are also publishing the only peer-reviewed online encyclopedia in India dedicated to Tamil culture—the Tamil Wiki. For the past three years, we have been holding weekend classes in philosophy and literature at our hill location. Additionally, we organize educational programs for students and work to educate villagers about democracy.
Yes, we are a very successful intellectual and cultural organization. Our formula is based on three fundamental rules. We have absolutely no involvement in current party politics. We do not have a regulated organization, nor do we have a chairperson, secretary or proper membership. We are simply a large international gathering of friends. We never entertain any form of negative attitudes; everything should be pleasant at every level. Thiruvalluvar says that scholars should assemble joyfully and disperse with good memories. This pleasantness is attracting new faces to us every day.
How does the literary circle plan to expand in the future?
A living thing must grow. We are actually nurturing a dream of starting a university similar to Shanti Niketan, focusing on the studies of philosophy, literature, and art. Already, we have great teachers with us. Money is the only challenge, but positive dreams always attract the necessary funding; this is my experience.
What criteria were used to select the guest speakers?
Serious literature in Tamil was confined to little magazines for more than five generations. With the advent of the internet, we have gained some visibility, which we are now utilizing. The serious literature emerging from the little magazine movement adopts a partisan approach on literary matters. We have established aesthetic criteria developed by prominent critics, starting with Ka. Na. Subramanyam. This festival is dedicated exclusively to modern Tamil literature, so we have selected writers who produce serious creative fiction. Our evaluation is purely aesthetic, so we have writers from various literary and political movements in this list.
