About Us

The landscape is dense, diverse, and beautiful. The textures run deep. The colors are vibrant. The hues and shades are complex and ever-changing. But this landscape is mostly unknown and hidden from the rest of the world.

No, we are not talking about some fictional paradise. Rather, we are referring to the landscape of modern Tamil literature. Often touted as one of the most alive and active literary traditions in the world – assessed not by the volume of readership but rather by the span and diversity of works – modern Tamil literature has a lot to offer to (and also learn from) other literary traditions and cultures. However, a lack of translations of works from Tamil to English hinder such a dialogue from happening. The purpose of this website is to facilitate and consolidate translations of literary works from Tamil to English, and in doing so, promote a dialogue.

The Tamil language is well-known for the metre, rhythm, and harmony of its classical verses, and the sweetness the verses evoke when they are read out loud. Hence the name Madhuram (sweetness) for our website. The objective of Madhuram is threefold: (1) to consolidate existing Tamil-to-English translations of literary works; (2) to commission new translations; (3) to introduce Tamil authors and their works in English – in the form of detailed profiles, features, reviews, and interviews.

If you would like to contribute new translations, or write a profile of your favorite author, or do a book review, please contact us at tamil.madhuram@gmail.com . We look forward to your active and continual support.

Disclaimer: We are a bunch of volunteers who are running this site. We don’t make (or plan to make) any money from this site. We will not use the translations displayed here (or anything derived from them) for any commercial purposes. Due care will be taken to attribute the original text to its source. If the rightful owners of the original text mail their objections to tamil.madhuram@gmail.com, the translations will be removed.