Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday announced that the state government will institute a new national-level literature award in response to the cancellation of the Sahitya Akademi Awards last year. The newly introduced honour will be called the Semmozhi Literary Award and is intended to recognise outstanding literary contributions across multiple Indian languages.
Making the announcement at the concluding event of the Chennai International Book Fair, Stalin said the award would be rolled out in phases. In the first phase, the Semmozhi Illakiya Virudhu, or Classical Language Literary Award, will be conferred for the best literary works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odiya, Bengali and Marathi. He added that each language category will carry a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, signalling the state’s commitment to encouraging and honouring literary excellence on a national scale.
The decision follows the cancellation of the Sahitya Akademi Awards announcement for 2025 by Sahitya Akademi after directives issued by the Union Cultural Ministry in December last year. Stalin criticised the move, describing it as politically motivated, and accused the Centre of interfering in independent spheres such as art, literature and culture.
Taking to social media to explain the state’s position, Stalin said that due to what he termed political interference and short-sightedness on the part of the Union government, the Sahitya Akademi awards for the year remained unannounced. He described the launch of the Semmozhi Literary Award as an appropriate and constructive response, adding that the Tamil Nadu government would henceforth take upon itself the responsibility of annually honouring the finest literary works published in Indian languages.
Stalin also said that several writers and representatives of literary organisations had approached him seeking a meaningful and positive counter-action to the cancellation of the national awards. He stated that the Tamil Nadu government was willing and happy to act as a patron for such an initiative, ensuring that literary recognition and encouragement did not suffer due to political considerations.
Looking ahead to the 2026 Assembly elections, the Chief Minister reiterated his emphasis on the Dravidian model of governance, which he said places a strong focus on promoting reading and literary culture as a core policy objective. He argued that encouraging reading habits and supporting writers are integral to building a progressive and socially aware society.
He also expressed appreciation for Booker Prize-winning author Banu Mushtaq for publicly endorsing Tamil Nadu’s approach. Stalin said her support highlighted the progressive and critical outlook associated with Dravidian ideology and acknowledged the state government’s efforts to institutionalise the promotion of reading as a policy-driven practice.
