Vallikannan famous works

He was for the language of expression that breaks away from conventional norms. The new verse movement had to encounter strong protests. The supporters invited derisive comments and questions were raised about its very life vis-à-vis conventional poetry. Giving a fair account of all of this, Vallikannan created a collection of essays, serialised in the magazine ‘Deepam’, capturing the birth and growth of new Tamil poetry in ‘Pudukavithaiyin Thottramum Valarchiyum’. It won him the Sahitya Akademi prize in 1978. It is a comprehensive historical account of the newverse, detailing the debates around the subject. It also lists all the proponents of different kinds of verses thereby facilitating further research. One wonders whether such an exhaus