I am thrilled that my translation of the Tiruvāymoḻi, Endless Song, has won the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize from The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). This is the first Tamil work and the first from any South Asian language to be recognized with this honor. I am shocked, elated, humbled, and honored by this recognition. It took a very long time to birth this book, to find an English to match the soaring heights of Nammāḻvār’s Tamil. I did not choose this poem to translate, daunted by its length and the rich tradition of commentary that accompanies it. But, it chose me through some mixture of providence and serendipity, and good fortune. Now it is out there in the world to live its own life.
It is a great day for Tamil and I so hope that the visibility generated by the prize will draw more people into the rich, wonderous world of Tamil literature (and South Asian literature too).