M V VENKATRAM
1920-2000
M.V. Venkatram (1920-2000) is a Sahitya Akademi award-winning Tamil author. He was born in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu. A prolific writer, Venkatram has authored over two hundred literary works, including novels, novellas, short plays, poetry and essays, which were published in illustrious newspapers and literary magazines.
In 1948, he established Thenee, a literary magazine. Prominent Tamil writers contributed to this publication. He was also the honorary editor for the Tamil literary magazine Paalam, where his novel ‘Ears’ was serialized. In addition to writing, he also undertook many translations from English and Hindi. He translated biographies of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh and Indira Gandhi.
WEAVING FIRE ( Velvi thee)
Number of pages: 190
A highly skilled and hard-working weaver, Kannan’s life has always been a battle of exploitation and survival—first by his own family members and later by unscrupulous middlemen who made sure the weavers remained impoverished. The story begins with rains lashing and ruining the weaver’s village, including Kannan and his wife Kausalai’s home and looms. Kannan’s economic ruin provides his longtime employee and confidante the opportunity to backstab him.
During this turmoil, Hema, a young widow, enters Kannan’s life. She is determined to have a relationship with Kannan, even if it means sharing him with her friend Kausalai and giving Kannan money to bail him out of his dire financial situation. A pregnant Kausalai is furious and distraught when she finds the truth about Hema’s intentions.
While Kannan is in the middle of negotiations to find a solution to the weaver’s union strike, he returns home late one night and realizes his wife and daughter are missing!
