madurai he was once celebrated for his literary works in tamil but for 82yearold maduraibased veteran writer p karnan now povertystricken every day is a struggle to survive yet he still aspires to write more and contribute to tamil literaturei first started writing in 1958 for a daily called kaveri with short story essays by 1962 i contributed around 500 short story essays and essays on freedom struggle for various dailies and weeklies like anandha vikatan kalki kungumam thamarai semmalar and udhayam i did not look back since and writing has always been a passion said karnan with a smile in 1964 his first book of short stories kanavupparavai was publishedhe followed it up with around 50 books including novels poems short story series biographies of tamil leaders and writers and historical accounts from freedom struggle i have had the rare chance to exchange ideas with three generations of writers says he he has written eight books of historical accounts on the freedom struggle and seven biographies of leaders and writers most recently he documented the historical account of freedom struggle in madurai between 19081947 in a 320page book mounathin minnal karnan said he was half way through writing his next book on freedom fighters in madurai who do not get pension ivargal illadha naam when the pandemic hitwith no regular income the povertyhit writer resides in his rented house at sellur along with two sisters who are deaf and dumb and a grandson his wife p ranjitham died eight years ago after which he was left abandoned by his children my youngest brother helps me make hospital visits if needed but otherwise i have to manage on my own i get rs 3000 per month from the government under a special scheme for literary writers since i am polioafflicted it has become even more difficult to walk said karnanrecognised for his work in tamil literature karnan has had the chance to interact with prominent tamil writers and political leaders including the late chief minister m karunanidhi in 2005 his book on historical account of freedom struggle avargal yenge ponargal was awarded by the state government as one of the best books of the year in 2008 the ministry of information and broadcasting awarded him a grant of rs 20000 for his work in 2012 kavithai uravu a chennaibased tamil literary organisation honoured karnan and his books with a lifetime achiever award