Madras Literary Society to open Tamil section on Saturday

Talking to DT Next, Thirupurasundari Sevvel, volunteer at the 200-year-old Madras Literary Society, says that the section will have 500-odd books across genres— fiction, biography, autobiography, poetry, short stories, philosophy, history and literature. “Our former secretary Mohan Raman, a navy veteran, wanted this Tamil section to be a forerunner along with the children’s section.” 

The initiative was kickstarted a year ago with the proceeds from the sale of the book, The Gods of the Holy Koovam, by heritage enthusiast, blogger and columnist Padmapriya Baskaran. “We have also had contributions from people like one of our volunteer’s grandmother from Bengaluru who sent 150 books. Artist Manohar Devadas has given a copy of his book Enadhu Madurai Ninaivugal,” Thirupurasundari says.

Rajith Nair, another volunteer, adds that the initiative will broaden its member base. “Contributions and sponsorships for book restoration programme have helped us 

preserve as many as 70 old books with immense literary value.”

Housed in the DPI campus, the new Tamil section in the library is expected to bring in more members from the department. “We have been getting enquiries from the staff at the department and the public for the last two years. This could give our membership a huge boost,” said its librarian, Uma Maheswari.

The event on Saturday will also have a talk by film historian and author Theodore Baskaran on ‘From Print to The Screen: Literature and Tamil Cinema’. Padmapriya, who initially printed about 200 books priced at Rs 150 each, will pass on the e-book sales proceeds on Saturday.