SUNDARA RAMASWAMY PRIZE

Arrowsmith Press is pleased to be the home of the Sundara Ramaswamy Prize.

The prize is given annually for a book of poetry in translation published by Arrowsmith Press and chosen by its editors. The prize includes a $1,000 award, presented by Sundara Ramaswamy’s daughter, Dr. Thaila Ramanujam. For more information, contact Askold Melnyczuk at arrowsmithpress@gmail.com

Sundara Ramaswamy (1931–2005), fondly known by the moniker "Su.Ra" in literary circles, is recognized as one of the most versatile and innovative of the Tamil writers, a leading exponent of modernism, and a dazzling stylist. He wrote in many genres — poetry, novels, short stories, plays, personal essays, and literary criticism. He was the editor and publisher of a literary magazine called Kalachuvadu, which became a forum for new writing and literary debate. He also wrote poetry under the pen name "Pasuvayya." His three novels are all recognized as pathbreaking. Each has been translated into English: Oru Puliya Marathin Kathai as Tamarind History (Penguin 2013), J.J Silakuripukal as J.J: Some Jottings (Katha 2004), and Kuzhanthaigal, Pengal, Aangal as Children, Women, Men (Penguin 2013). His novel, The Tamarind Tree, has been in print for the past fifty years, and celebrated as a classic of world literature.

2021 Winner: The Land of Mild Light by Rafael Cadenas

Rafael Cadenas (Barquisimeto, 1930) is a Venezuelan poet, translator, and educator. He formed part of the “Tabla Redonda” group in the early sixties, when he was active in the Communist Party of Venezuela. He was imprisoned and exiled during the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and he took refuge on the island of Trinidad until 1957. He has published the books Los cuadernos del destierro (1960), Falsas maniobras (1966), Memorial (1977), Intemperie (1977), Anotaciones (1983), Amante (1983), Dichos (1992), Gestiones (1992), Apuntes sobre San Juan de la Cruz y la mística (1995), and En torno a Basho y otros asuntos (2016). He received a Guggenheim grant in 1986 and an Honoris Causa doctorate from the Central University of Venezuela. His work has been awarded several important prizes, including the Premio Nacional de Ensayo in 1984, the Premio Nacional de Literatura in 1985, the Premio San Juan de la Cruz in 1991, the Premio Internacional de Poesía Ciudad de Granada Federico García Lorca in 2016, and the Reina Sofia Iberoamerican poetry prize in 2018.

Nidia Hernández was born in Venezuela, and has been living in the US since 2018. She is a poet and translator of Portuguese poetry, an editor, broadcaster, and radio producer, and a poetry curator. Nidia directs the editorial project lamajadesnuda.com, which won the 2011 WSA prize for Cultural Heritage. She curates Poesiaudio (Arrowsmith Press) and is a contributor for Mercurius Magazine. She has presented works drawn from the 31 years of her radio program (also called La maja desnuda) which has more than 1,560 broadcasts. Currently, she is broadcasting the program through UPV Radio 102.5 FM in Valencia, Spain.

2020 Winner: Selected Poems of Oksana Zabuzhko

Born in 1960 in Ukraine, Oksana Zabuzhko published her first poem at the age of 12.  Because her parents had been blacklisted during the Soviet purges of the 1970s, her first book appeared only after perestroika. She received a PhD in the philosophy of the arts, and has been a Fulbright Fellow and Writer-in-Residence at Penn State University, Harvard University, and University of Pittsburgh. Her first novel, Field Work in Ukrainian Sex (1996, published in the US by Amazon Crossing in 2011) was named "the most influential Ukrainian book since independence." Since then, she has been living in Kiev as a free-lance writer. Zabuzhko has published 20 books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, many of which have been translated into more than fifteen languages. Her honors include a MacArthur Grant (2002), the Antonovych International Foundation Prize (2008), the Ukrainian National Award, the Order of Princess Olha (2009), the ANGELUS Central European Literature Award (2013), and many other national and international awards. Her book of stories, Your Ad Could Go Here, will be published by Amazon Crossing in April of 2020.