Mu Va birth centenary celebrated

CHENNAI: The birth centenary of Mu Varadarajan, also known as Mu Va and Varatharasanar, was celebrated recently at Pachaiyappa’s College. A two-day seminar was organised by the Sahitya Akademi, during which the renowned Tamil author’s work would be discussed.The Sahitya Akademi award winner was a prolific writer whose published works include 13 novels, 6 plays, 2 short story collections, 11 essay anthologies, a book on the history of Tamil literature, books on Tamil linguistics and children's books. He was also the head of the Tamil department at the University of Madras and the vice-chancellor of the University of Madurai.Assistant Editor of Sahitya Akademi, Bangalore, TR Meenalochani, said, “There will be four sessions on each day, discussing the different aspects of Mu Va’s work. Students from all over the city have been invited, and we expect 200 to 300 participants.” Era Mohan, General Council Member, Sahitya Akademi; “Sirpi” Balasubramaniam, Convenor of the Tamil Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi; Avvai Natarajan, Former Vice-Chancellor, Tamil University; P Kandasamy, Principal of Pachaiyyapa’s College and Rama Gurunathan, General Council Member, Sahitya Akademi were present at the inauguration.A book exhibition is also being held on the sidelines of the seminar. Publications by all Sahitya Akademi award winners are available for sale. Topics being discussed at the seminar will be the creative world of Mu Va, him as a critic and a versatile writer, and a discussion on the best works of Mu Va.