Biographie de M.L. Thangappa
M. L. Thangappa (1934) was born in Kurumbalapperi, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. He taught Tamil for over twenty five years in various colleges of the Puducherry Govt and has published a number of books of poetry and essays in Tamil. His translations from Tamil literature into English include Sangam poetry, didactic poetry and the songs of Saint Ramalingam, Subramania Bharati and Bharatidasan.
He has won the Bharatidasan Award (1991) of the Govt of Tamil Nadu and the Sirpi Literary Award (2007) for lifetime achievement in poetry. He is a founding member of the Puducherry Ecological Society. Two of his translations from the Tamil classics have been published as Penguin Classics: Love Stands Alone: Selections from Tamil Sangam Poetry in 2010 and Red Lilies and Frightened Birds (a translation of Muttollayiram) in 2011.
Love Stands Alone won the Sahitya Akademi award for the best translation of a regional work into English (2012). Thangappa lives with his family in Puducherry.