Thanjavur: Late Malaysian Tamil writer S Seeni Naina Mohamed, Singapore writer Sithuraj Ponraj and Sri Lankan Tamil writer M Sivalingam have been selected for the 2016 Karikala Chozhan award given by Tamil University.

The award for foreign literature will be presented to the writers at a function to be held at the Colombo Tamil Sangam, Colombo, on January 21, said Dr G Bhaskaran, Vice Chancellor of Tamil University, here today.

Mohamed’s ‘Tholkappiaya Kadalin Oru Thuli’, a grammatical research book; Ponraj’s ‘Maarilikal’, a collection of short stories; and Sivalingam’s ‘Pancham pilaikka vantha seemai’, a novel, are the prize-winning works selected this year, Bhaskaran said.

Mustafa, Chairman of the Mustafa Tamil Trust from Singapore, created a chair in the name of Thamizhavel G Sarangapani in 2007 by providing Rs 20 lakh to the Department of Tamil Studies in Foreign Countries. Since then, the prestigious award for foreign literature is given every year to two writers from Malaysia and Singapore. The award has so far been presented to 14 writers over the years.

With the inclusion of Sri Lanka in the list of recipients, the trust has decided to present the award to three writers from this year.

Bhaskaran will present the awards, while Rangaraj Pandey, Chief News Editor, Thanthi TV, will preside over the function.