Konangi
Konangi () (born 1 November 1956) is the pen name of the Tamil writer Ilangovan. He is the maternal grandson of the Tamil playwright, lyricist, writer and Freedom fighter Madurakavi Baskaradoss. His father is the Tamil writer Shanmugam and his mother is Saraswathi. His elder brother is the Tamil short-story writer Tamilselvan and his younger brother is Murugaboopathy a contemporary Tamil playwright. He grew up in Naagalapuram, bodinayakanur and Nenmeni Mettupatti and he currently lives in Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu. Described as the most important Tamil voice since Pudumaipithan, Konangi has published six short story collections and three novels. His works belongs to the less popular serious literature genre in Tamil which is mostly published in literary magazines and only occasionally in magazines and newspapers with wider circulation. Konangi's first short story veechu (வீச்சு) was published in Thaamarai a Tamil magazine in 1980 and from then on he went to create some of the most original short stories in the Tamil language. His stories are characterised by very dense images, a tight narrative style with a vocabulary like no other bringing a ritualistic shade to the use of the Tamil language. His works often pushes and breaks the limits of fiction in Tamil literature by abandonment of the conventions of plot and character construction. Konangi quit his job in March 1988 and started his own little magazine Kal Kudhirai in October 1988 in the Kalrayan Hills which continues to publish serious contemporary Tamil fiction, poetry, reviews and translations. Konangi's earlier short stories dealt with the issues of Alienation, effects of Urbanisation in villages leading to farmer suicides, Childhood memories, Rural tales and other metaphysical themes. He later experimented in fiction writing a wide range of genres including Surrealistic and Magical stories of dreamscapes. His previous novels Paazhi dealt with Jainism and Pidhiraa dealt with a wide range of subjects using the reference of the five ancient Sangam landscapes. His latest novel Tha was published in January 2013. Despite receiving enormous acknowledgements for his literary outputs, Konangi stays away from the media . Bibliography தொகுக்கப்படாத கதைகள் வீச்சு – தாமரை – 1980. விளக்குச்சரம் – சிகரம் சிற்றிதழ் – 1980. தர்ம சக்கரம் முதல் சில சிறுகதைகள் இருட்டு – சிகரம் – October 1980. கருப்பு ரயில் – தேடல் – October 1981. மதினிமார்கள் கதை – மீட்சி – 1982. Short story collections மதினிமார்கள் கதை – அன்னம் வெளியீடு கொல்லனின் ஆறு பெண்மக்கள். பொம்மைகள் உடைபடும் நகரம். பட்டுப்பூச்சிகள் உறங்கும் மூன்றாம் ஜாமம் உப்புக்கத்தியில் மறையும் சிறுத்தை. இருள்வ மௌத்திகம் . சலூன் நாற்காலியில் சுழன்றபடி. வெள்ளரிப் பெண்(Anthology). Novellas கைத்தடி கேட்ட நூறு கேள்விகள் – A novella that won the prize in Kanaiyaazhi. அப்பாவின் குகையில் இருக்கிறேன் – ( I am in my fathers cave) தழும்புகள் சிவந்த அணங்கு நிலம். Novels பாழி – 2000 பிதிரா – 2004 த – 2013 நீர் வளரி - 2020 பிதிரா Pidhira was released in 2004 and is largely a novel that was less denser and more accessible than the earlier work paazhi. It had its sections based on the five Tamil sangam landscapes . The first part 'mullai' was written as a fiction based on the travels in