Ka. Naa. Subramanyam was a Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 writer and critic from Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. He is also popularly known by his Tamil initials as Ka. Naa. Su

Biography

Subramaniam was born in Valangaiman

Valangaiman

Valangaiman is a panchayat town in the Valangaiman taluk of Thiruvarur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Geography:Valangiman is located at . It has an average elevation of...

 in Thanjavur District

Thanjavur District

Thanjavur District is one of the 32 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur.-Geography:...

. His first noted published work was the novel Poithevu (1946). He also wrote poems using the pseudonym Mayan. He published many literary journals like Ilakkiya vattam, Sooravali and Chandraodayam. He became a literary critic in the 1950s. His reviews first appeared in the magazines Swadesamitran and Saraswathi. He was a friend and contemporary of fellow literary critic C. S. Chellappa

C. S. Chellappa

Cinnamanur Subramaniam Chellappa was a Tamil writer, journalist and Indian independence movement activist. He belonged to the "Manikodi" literary movement along with Pudhumaipithan, Ku Pa Ra, Va. Ramasamy, N. Pichamurthy and A. N. Sivaraman...

 with who he was involved in a long literary feud. He was considered as a rightwinger and Anti-Marxist by left leaning Tamil writers. In 1965, he moved to New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

 and started writing articles for English language newspapers. For the next twenty years he lived in Delhi and moved back to Chennai only in 1985. In 1986, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award

Sahitya Akademi Award

Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...

 for Tamil for his literary criticism Ilakkiyathukku oru Iyakkam (lit. A Movement for Literature). After his return to Chennai, he started writing for Tamil magazines like Kungumam

Kungumam

Kungumam is a Tamil weekly magazine published in Chennai, India. It is owned by Kalanidhi Maran's Sun Network. According to the Kungumam emerged as the top-selling Tamil weekly magazine overtaking historical market leaders like Kumudam and Ananda Vikatan. Also, is the second best selling...

, Mutharam, Dina mani Kathir

Dina Mani

Dina Mani is daily Tamil newspaper printed and published from Chennai, Coimbatore, Vellore, Trichy, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Dharmapuri, Bangalore, and New Delhi in India. The newspaper was established in 1933 and owned by The New Indian Express Group.The first edition came in 1934 september 11...

 and Thuglak

Thuglak

-History:Cho Ramaswamy founded the magazine and commenced its first publication on the first day of the Tamil harvesting month "Thai" based on the Tamil calendar system; which was January 14, 1970 in the Gregorian calendar. He has been the editor of the magazine ever since and has penned several...

. Pondicherry University

Pondicherry University

Pondicherry University is a Central University in Pondicherry, India. Founded in 1985 by the Government of India,has emerged as India's fastest growing Central University and it is an affiliating University with a jurisdiction spread over the Union Territories of Pondicherry, Lakshadweep and...

 made him an honorary professor. He died in 1988. The Government of Tamil Nadu

Government of Tamil Nadu

The Government of Tamil Nadu, headquartered at Chennai is the governing authority for the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at the Fort St. George...

 nationalised his works in 2006.

Awards and recognitions

• Sahitya Akademi Award (1986)
• Government of Tamil Nadu
  Government of Tamil Nadu
  The Government of Tamil Nadu, headquartered at Chennai is the governing authority for the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at the Fort St. George...
  
   award for the short story Kodhai Sirithaal
• Kumaran Asan
  Kumaran Asan
  N. Kumaran Asan , also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan , was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India...
  
   award

Novels

• Sarmavin uyil
• Pasi
• Vaazhvum thaazhvum
• Sakthi vilasam
• Ezhu per
• Oru naal
• Puzhithi ther
• Maalthedi
• Nadutheru
• Gopuravaasal
• Poithevu
• Asurakanam
• Pithappoo

Literary criticism

• Vimarsana kalai
• Padithirukireergala
• Ulagathu sirandha novelgal
• Ilakkiya Visaaram

Translations

• Anbuvazhi
• Thabaal kaaran
• Madhaguru
• Nilavalam
• Vilangupannai (Animal Farm
  Animal Farm
  Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...
  
  )