Bio
A teacher by profession, S. Vijayalakshmi is actively engaged in the Tamil literary field, penning poetry and articles on literary and social issues. She has contributed poems and essays to several mainstream and alternate Tamil magazines, and has to her credit four published books of poetry, one book of short stories, two collections of essays, and a compilation of Landai poems translated into Tamil. English translations of her works have been published in periodicals and journals, such as Modern Poetry in Translation, Asymptote, Columbia Journal and National Translation Month. An ardent feminist, Vijayalakshmi continues to participate in literary and social forums that explore the place of women in society.
Translator Bio
Thila Varghese
Translator Thila Varghese works part-time during the academic year as a Senior Writing Advisor at Western University. Her translations of Tamil literary works have been published in World Literature Today, Modern Poetry in Translation, Indian Literature, Metamorphoses, National Translation Month, Columbia Journal, and Asymptote. Thila’s translation entry was shortlisted for the 2023 Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation.
What are the ecological / social crises within your region / country?
Located in the southern region of India, Tamil Nadu is rich in plains and rainforests on account of the Western and the Eastern Ghats. Paddy and sugarcane have been cultivated here as cash crops for generations. But for the past couple of decades or so, paddy fields have been rapidly divided into individual lots for building houses due to urbanization. Since even low-lying areas and wetlands have been turned into housing lots, biodiversity is reduced drastically. For example, there used to be numerous trees in Chennai, where I live. Now it is packed with buildings, and with trees gone, the bird species have dwindled. Many lakes have disappeared over the years to make room for settlements. The forests rich in flora and fauna are being destroyed to harvest mineral resources, leading to deforestation and degradation of soil. Furthermore, industrial waste, despite treatment, ends up contaminating the waterways. All of the above have a negative impact on the environment, contributing to ecological imbalance. In Chennai, we are witnessing climate change-related frequency of heavy rainfalls leading to floods that have serious economic and health consequences for the city dwellers, especially for the underprivileged. Since houses have been built encroaching on waterways, water stagnates in the city during monsoons. In 2015, Chennai experienced a flooding crisis following a torrential downpour, in which the ground floors of numerous houses in the city were flooded. Unable to run fast and drain the excess water because of scattered encroachments, the Cooum River in Chennai flooded the residential areas. The city barely survived the last monsoon in 2022 despite repairs and maintenance of available drainage facilities. On the other side of the coin, because there are no sustainable plans for rainwater harvesting, water scarcity is increasing in Chennai with the rising population. More work needs to be done to minimize flooding during heavy rainfalls and increase the availability of drinking water.