Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma

author, poet, teacher, and performer

The 11th World Tamil Conference

It was an enormous honor and delight to get to speak at the 11th World Tamil Conference in Kuala Kumpur, Malaysia, in July 2023.

Here are a few pictures! Click on the images to see them at full size.

I was amazed and humbled by how people have responded to several interviews that I gave during the conference. For those who know Tamil, here are a few links.

I’m hoping to upload a few of these videos to my YouTube channel and add English subtitles. Once I do, you’ll be able to find them on this page as well.

A Greeting for the 11th World Tamil Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I’m deeply honored to be participating in the 11th World Tamil Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 21-23, 2023, in which I’ll be speaking about my English translation of the Kural: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural.

Watch on YouTube and turn on the captions for an English translation of this greeting in Tamil.

I invite you to learn more about my translation of the Kural as well as my translation of Avvaiyar, issued in a second edition in 2022 by Red Hen Press.

REMEMBERING TO FORGET: The Kural and Living Fully

I was delighted to write about verse 108 from the Kural in the wonderful online magazine The Porch: A Slow Conversation about Beautiful and Difficult Things.

You can read the essay here:

https://www.theporchcommunity.net/essays/2023/5/16/remembering-to-forget-the-kural-and-living-fully-thomas-hitoshi-pruiksma

You can also listen to verse 108 here:

108
Forgetting good done is not good—forgetting at once
What is not good—good

நன்றி மறப்பது நன்றன்று நன்றல்லது
அன்றே மறப்பது நன்று

From chapter 11, “Gratitude.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston

Life and Learning in Harmony: A Tribute to Dr. K. V. Ramakoti

For Teacher Appreciation Week, I was honored to write about my Tamil teacher, the late Dr. K. V. Ramakoti, in the award-winning blog of Beacon Press, Beacon Broadside.

Without Dr. Ramakoti, I would never have dared to translate the Kural, let alone to teach about it and introduce it to English-speaking readers and leaders.

You can read the essay on the Beacon Broadside website: https://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2023/05/life-and-learning-in-harmony-a-tribute-to-dr-k-v-ramakoti.html