[1][2] Selvi was born into a peasant family in Semamadu, a village about 80 miles south of Jaffna in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.
This dedication eventually led her to establish the feminist journal Tholi, through which she voiced the concerns and aspirations of Tamil women during the turbulent times of the Sri Lankan civil war.
She was the founder of a feminist journal called Tholi and was a gifted young poet who in her work deplored the carnage brought about by the Sri Lankan civil war.
She wrote two plays and was a member of the women’s center "Poorani Illam," which provided relief aid to those affected by the war and bombings in the north.
[citation needed] Selvi received the prestigious ‘Poetry International Award’ from the Poets, Essayists, and Novelists (PEN) organization.