Hari Rajaledchumy introduces us to the work of Sugan, a Sri Lankan Tamil poet who emerged as a key figure within the exiled Eelam Tamil dissent ‘little magazine’ culture in the 80s and 90s.

Sugan is a Sri Lankan Tamil poet/writer living in Paris, France. He was a key figure within the exiled Eelam Tamil dissent ‘little magazine’ culture of the late 80s and 90s. Published across several Tamil-language journals (that came out of the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Denmark, France and Canada) with very limited print run and private circulation, his poems remain difficult to find. Aakaddi, a literary collective based in Paris, is currently working on collecting and archiving his works.

Sugan was one of earliest and rare voices to question the centrality of war, authoritarianism, and violence at the heart of Tamil Nationalist thought and struggle. He has edited several volumes of dissent literature and Dalit criticism.

Hari Rajaledchumy was born in 1988 in Sri Lanka. They are an artist, writer and critic currently based in the UK. She holds a 1st class honours degree in International Development and was trained as an artist-associate at OSE's studio-based programme in 2015. A selection of her recent works can be accessed on her website: hrajaledchumy.com