Sundara Ramaswamy (30 May 1931 – 15 October 2005)[1] was an Indian novelist, poet, translator, and literary critic, widely considered to be a preeminent figure in post-Independence Tamil literature.

Sundara Ramaswamy has been praised for his versatility and his skillful negotiation of various literary forms: poetry, short fiction, and the novel.

[3] Ramaswamy began his literary career translating Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's Malayalam novel, Thottiyude Makan, into Tamil.

Sundara Ramaswamy was born in 1931 in Thazhuviya Mahadevan Kovil, a village in Nagercoil, then part of the princely state of Travancore.

Originating from a Tamil Brahmin family, he spoke the language, but as he lived in Travancore, he only learned to read and write in Malayalam.

[5] At 20, he began his literary career, translating Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's Malayalam novel, Thottiyude Makan into Tamil[6] and writing his first short story, 'Muthalum Mudivum', which he published in Pudimaipithan Ninaivu Malar.

He was influenced by the works of contemporary thinkers such as Gandhi, Periyar, Sri Aurobindo, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Ram Manohar Lohia, J. C. Kumarappa and J.

[1] The majority of his early short stories were published in the magazines Sarawathi and Santhi, although he also wrote several collections, among them Akkaraic Chimaiyil (On the Shores Beyond, 1959) and Pitatchatam (Offerings, 1964).

It was in this phase that he wrote the short stories in Pallikutt takhihal (The Palanquin Bearers), the book of novellas Tiraikal ayiram (Thousand Curtains), and later the novel J.J. Silakuripukal (J.J.

Oru Puliamarathin Kathai has been translated into English (Tale of a Tamarind Tree, Penguin India, New Delhi), Hindi, Malayalam and Hebrew.