Rama Kannabiran was born in Amapat, India, in 1943 and came to Singapore aged 10. As Singapore’s foremost Tamil language short-story writer and novelist, he was instrumental in putting the language on the island’s literary map. His notable works include Irupathainthu Aandukal (Twenty-Five Years, 1980), Peedam (Seat Power, 1988) and Gypsies (2007). He has received the Thamizhavel award, the South East Asia Writers Award, and the Cultural Medallion.

Rama Kannabiran began his love affair with literature as a cure for loneliness, when his father was forced to leave his home and family in Singapore for a period of time to find work in India. The young Kannabiran turned to his grandmother’s stories, a lending library at the Ramakrishnan Mission, and also a teacher who was a translator in Parliament. This kind soul, one Mr Narayana, had lent his books to the young, voracious reader. Inspired, Kannabiran began to write his own tales, submitting them to writing competitions organised by Tamil Murasu. He would come to win one of these writing competitions.

Following the winding down of his family’s business in 1965, Kannabiran travelled to India, giving up writing for a while. He returned to Singapore the following year with a new bride, however, who encouraged him to write again. During the late ‘60s and ‘70s he was extremely prolific, writing and publishing some 40 short stories, while maintaining a full-time career in teaching.

In 1982, Kannabiran became the first Tamil language writer to win an award given out by the National Book Development Council of Singapore. This was conferred on behalf of his collection of short stories, Irupathainthu Aandukal (Twenty-Five Years). In 1988, he took part in a writing workshop at the Iowa International Literary Forum, which resulted in the publication of Peedam (Seat of Power). He would go on to spend three years in at the University of Iowa as a Honorary Writing Fellow.

He received the South East Asia Writers Award in 1990 and the Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Literary Award in 1998. In 1999, he received both the Thamizhavel Award and the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to literature.

Today, Kannabiran continues to write, conduct workshops for aspiring writers, and adjudicate at writing competitions. His works, which have played a significant role in integrating Tamil identity into national identity, have been published in Singapore and India in a variety of languages.