Tamil literary writer set to launch new book in January

By Ishu Bandara

January 2025 will be a remarkable and unforgettable month for Tamil literary writer Pradeepan Deepachelvan, who lives in Kilinochchi, a quiet town in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

Deepachelvan is in the final stages of writing his third book, ‘Cyanide’, which will be published by Discovery Book Palace in India, just like his previous book, 'Bhayagaravadi’ (The Terrorist).

The book is scheduled to be released at the Madras Book Fair in India, January 2025 and will be available to Sri Lanka’s Tamil reading community shortly thereafter.

A young Tamil writer Deepachelvan has already written and published two novels 'Nadugal’ (Translated into Sinhala by P.P. Sarath Ananda as ‘Smaraka Shilavatha’), ‘Bhayagaravadi’ and seven poetry collections in Tamil.

His novels have been translated into Sinhala, Malayalam, and Telugu, and some of his poems have been translated into many other languages, including Sinhala, French, Norwegian, and Hindi.

He noted that his first poetry book was fully translated into Sinhala, and such translations contribute to a renaissance in Sri Lankan Tamil literature, helping to bridge cultural divides.

Having witnessed the destruction of the war in Sri Lanka and faced numerous setbacks, Deepachelvan achieved the 9th rank in the Kilinochchi District for his Advanced Level exams, with two A’s and one C. He began his university studies at the ‘University of Jaffna’, where he pursued a special degree in Tamil.

He then went to India to study at the University of Madras, earning an MA (Master of Arts) in Journalism and Media Communication. After completing his MA, he obtained a Master of Philosophy (MP) in Media Studies from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli, India.

With these academic qualifications, Deepachelvan returned to Sri Lanka and currently works as a Tamil and Media teacher for Advanced Level (A/L) students at Murugaananda College in Kilinochchi.

He expressed his commitment to his homeland, stating that he has no intention of settling in any other country, as there is no place in the world like his motherland. Although he has been invited several times by literature-related organizations in the USA and Canada, but as his visa applications were rejected he could not go ahead with the visit.

"I have a lot on my mind that I need to turn into words, I can’t wait to write," said the world-famous young Tamil literary writer Pradeepan Deepachelvan.

Pradeepan Deepachelvan