Everyone Receives Rain: A Journey with Avvaiyar

I’m delighted to be speaking about Avvaiyar at the Singapore Writers Festival. Here is a description of my upcoming lecture:

Why would a budding writer and poet in English become an apprentice to a 12th century Tamil woman, poet, and saint? What’s so compelling about Avvaiyar that Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma spent years learning from her? Tamil literature has given women of wisdom a revered place for more than 2,000 years. In this lecture, Thomas tells the story of his translation of Avvaiyar and explores what she and her tradition can teach us about honouring words, each other, and the earth beneath our feet.

This lecture is co-presented with the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture and the National Library Board, and is made possible with the support of the U.S. Embassy Singapore.