The Ma. Aranganathan Literary Awards for 2019 were presented to writers Veli Rangarajan and Yuma Vasuki in Chennai on Tuesday. The awards carry a citation and a cash prize of ₹1 lakh each from Munril Literary Society, run by Justice R. Mahadevan of Madras High Court.

He had instituted the awards last year in the name and memory of his father, a noted Tamil writer, who died on April 16, 2017 at the age of 83.

This was the second consecutive year that the awards were being conferred to honour and recognise the contributions made by authors, poets, playwrights and others to the growth of the Tamil language.

Presiding over the event, Sahitya Akademi general council member Tamilavan, recalling his association with Aranganathan, said, the latter had all through his life desired to institute an award for talented writers.

He pointed out that Aranganathan had migrated from Nagercoil to Chennai in 1952, served as a clerk at Chennai Corporation and ran a Tamil literary magazine titled Munril despite his meagre income. The office of Munril served as a joint for literary enthusiasts to sit together, discuss and analyse each other’s works.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – April 17th, 2019