Tamil Nadu vs Centre over literature awards; Stalin announces parallel prizes

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, on Sunday announced that the state would introduce its national-level literature award amid the delay in the Sahitya Akademi Awards. The newly announced award would be known as the Semmozhi Literary Award.

“Literature knows no boundaries; it is the bridges that connect us—exemplifying this, I participated in the closing ceremony of the Chennai International Book Fair and released translation books,” Stalin wrote.

The decision came amid uncertainties over this year’s Sahitya Akademi Award. The central government has not announced the date yet, and the issue has triggered a major political controversy, with the DMK slamming the Centre.

“Due to the Union Government's political interference and short-sightedness, this year's #SahityaAkademi award remains unannounced. As an apt response to this, henceforth, the Tamil Nadu Government itself will annually present the 'Semmozhi Literary Award' to the finest literary works published in Indian languages!” Stalin further added.

Ahead of the 2026 polls, Stalin further upheld his Dravidian model of governance, which, according to him, promotes the culture of reading as a mandatory policy practice. In addition to this, he also appreciated the Booker Prize-winning author Banu Mushtaq for extending her support to Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian model.

“In addition to highlighting the progressive critical perspective unique to Dravidianism, my thanks to the writer Thiru Banu Mushtaq, winner of the #InternationalBookerPrize, who also commended our #DravidianModel government's efforts to promote reading as a policy practice!” he concluded.

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