Abdul Rahman

Pioneer of surrealism in Tamil poetry, Abdul Rahman is the author of around two-dozen books. He is also the 1999 Sahitya Akademi Award winner for his collection of poems ‘Aalapanai’. It is after three decades that a Tamil poetic work has been chosen for this award. For several years, he taught as the Head of the Tamil Department at Islamiah College in Vaniyambadi. Among his noted works are ‘Paal Veedi’, ‘Neyar Viruppam’, ‘Muttai Vaasigal’, ‘Suttu Viral’, ‘Karaigale Nadiyavadillai’ and ‘Indriravu Pagalil’. Several of his works have been serialised in popular periodicals. His adaptation of the Japanese poetic form of Haiku and the Urdu Ghazal has helped enrich Tamil poetry today. Among the first to make contemporary the Hindu myths, this modern poet is a doctorate-holder for his dissertation on symbolism in modern Tamil verse.