| Jayakanthan was born in 1934 in Cuddalore,
India in 1934 and grew up in Madras (now, Chennai). He spent
his childhood and his adult life in Chennai, and as a result,
Jayakanthan makes the city the locale for his fiction. In fact,
in an interview, Jayakanthan clarified that his novel – A
Man, A Home and a World – is the only work with a
village atmosphere and that its hero Henry represents the universal
man from a village not yet corrupted by ‘values imported from
towns and forced by the present-day politics. |
|
Jayakanthan's contribution to
arts and politics spans over 50 years when he has donned
all kinds of hats: foot soldier, journalist, writer, pamphleteer,
filmmaker, and critic. Fiercely independent and a man of
conviction, he once declared that he never wrote even one
sentence to entertain his readers. His primary goal, in
all his writings, is to ‘sing the glory
of man.' Asked if he was a committed writer, he answered: “Yes,
I am committed to life at the conscious level'. He added
such a commitment could extend to Shaivam, Vaishnavam, Marxism
or Communism.
Jayakanthan's vast literary output includes 200 short
stories, 35 novellas, 15 full novels and 15 collections of
essays. Critics have described the Tamil literary scene of
the Sixties as the ‘Age of Jayakanthan.'
Earlier this year Jayakanthan received the distinguished
Jnanapeeth Award for his ‘outstanding contribution towards
the shaping of Indian literature' and ‘his deep, sensitive
understanding of human nature.' He is also the Fellow of
the Indian Sahitya Academy as well as recipient of awards
from the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil University
of in Tanjore.
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