Tamil Literary Garden - ‘Iyal Virudhu’ award for George Hart
On 24th June, 2006, the Tamil Literary Garden awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2005 to Professor George L. Hart. Professor Hart, whose contribution to Tamil studies over several decades has won him international recognition, is currently Professor of Tamil at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent work, ‘The Four Hundred Songs of War and Wisdom’, was published in 1999 by Columbia University Press and won the South Asian Council A.K.Ramanujan Book prize. The event tookplace at Seeley Hall, Trinity College, University of Toronto, and was attended by university faculty, students, and members of the community. The award which consists of a plaque and a cash prize of 1500 dollars was preceded by a lecture given by Professor Hart, entitled “Tamil as a Classical Language” organized by the Centre for South AsianStudies, University of Toronto.
This was also the occasion for the Tamil Literary Garden to inaugurate two more awards: the ‘Best Non-Fiction for the Year in Tamil’ went to CreA S.Ramakrishnan, who was the Managing Editor of Tamil – Tamil – English dictionary known as Tharkalath Thamizh Akarathi. The ‘Best Fiction for the Year in Tamil’ award went to So. Tharman for his novel titled ‘Koohai’. They were awarded cash prize of 500 dollars each.
The Tamil Literary Garden, a non-profit organization, founded in 2001 is committed to raising awareness and promoting Tamil studies at a global level. As part of its mission, the Tamil Literary Garden organizes various workshops, conferences and seminars designed to encourage and explore creative writing and translation techniques in addition to recognizing great works in Tamil annually.
The award ceremony came to end with the performance of a skit by the university students in Tamil entitled Verkalaith Thedi or ‘In search of Roots’ followed by a vote of thanks.
