Global InformationSubramani information
Subramani | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 June 1943 Labasa, Fiji |
| Alma mater |
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| Occupation(s) | Author, essayist, critic |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Notable work | Fiji Maa: A Mother of a Thousand Dauka Purana |
Subramani (born 20 June 1943) is a Fijian author, essayist, and literary critic.[1][2] According to The Literary Encyclopedia, he is "one of Fiji's leading prose fiction writers, essayists, and critics".[1] His essays have dealt with multiculturalism, education, and cinema.[1] Subramani writes fiction and non-fiction in English and Fiji Hindi, and has combined writing with university administration. He has served in all three universities in Fiji and has been a Dean, Pro Vice Chancellor and Acting Vice Chancellor. He has established himself as a novelist, short story writer, essayist and a literary critic. He has written on education, language, the university, cinema and civil society. In his fiction, as a bilingual writer, and working from the intersection of two languages, he been able to depict, in the words of the Samoan novelist, Sia Figiel, the "struggles of Fijian society and present us with a haunting salusalu of melancholy, despair, anguish, madness, terror, loss interlaced with moments of satire and humour that encapsulates the history and experience of men and women and children caught up in the violent shadow of colonialism".[3]
Essays of Subramani's such as "A Room to Write"[4] and "The Children of Ramchandramanus Country",[4] reveal that he started writing fiction when he was at high school at a time when there no Fijian writing or authors. The obstacles he met in his writing career made him very sympathetic to aspiring writers, both young and old. He was a leading figure in the literary renaissance that happened in the South Pacific in the 1970's when the small island states were becoming politically independent. He worked with writers like Albert Wendt, Marjorie Crocombe, Konai Thaman, Satendra Nandan, Epeli Hau’ofa and Raymond Pillai, editing the literary journal Mana , organizing workshops for young writers, and teaching and critiquing literary works. Along with his own writing, he continues to mentor new emerging writers. He teaches literature and many of his students have become well-known writers.
In 1978, Subramani's short story "Marigolds" won a South Pacific literary contest that marked the beginning of an outstanding literary career. The first book he published was The Indo-Fijian Experience (1979)[1] that has become a classic work. It commemorated the centenary of Indian settlement in Fiji. It explores the interplay of history and the fiction in depicting salient aspects of the experience of indenture, and thus for the first time Fijian historians (Ahmed Ali and Brij Lal) and creative writers (Raymond Pillai, Satendra Nandan, Subramani) are featured together to define the emerging Indo-Fijian identity.
- ^ a b c O'Carroll, John (15 September 2014). "Subramani". www.litencyc.com. The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ Hereniko, Vilsoni (2001). "An Interview with Subramani". The Contemporary Pacific. 13 (1): 184–198. ISSN 1043-898X. JSTOR 23718516.
- ^ Patel, Hetal (2014). Subramani: A Writer at Work in Fiji. New Delhi: Creative Books. ISBN 978-81-8043-112-8.
- ^ a b Subramani (2020). Reason to Imagine. India: Justfiction Edition. ISBN 978-620-0-10818-0.