Uthaya Sankar SB

Uthaya Sankar SB grew up in Lorong B, Aulong Lama village in Taiping, Perak, where the majority of people along this lane were Indian and there were only two Malay families. (theSun, 16 July 2009) She moved to Klang, Selangor and later settled in Shah Alam, Selangor. She studied in Universiti Malaya (1993-1998) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (1998-1999). She is a Malaysian Malayali.

Uthaya was with Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) from 1996 to 2010 as a Bahasa Malaysia news editor, newscaster, newspaper reviewer, and trainer. She also lectured (1999-2007) in International College of Music (ICOM), The One Academy (TOA), Yamaha Academy of Arts and Music, and SEGI College. Since 2011, Uthaya has been a freelance writer, editor and consultant. She runs Perunding Media, Motivasi dan Penerbitan Uthaya (a consultation company) and is also the founder president of Kavyan. Since July 2020, she is a columnist with Utusan Malaysia newspaper.

Uthaya Sankar SB's criticisms of Tamil literature in Malaysia entitled "What Tamil Writers?" (New Straits Times, 11 February 2004) drew a response from R. Karthigesu.[1]

Dina Zaman calls her "honestly blunt" in an article she wrote in New Straits Times (4 July 2001)[2] while Rachael Philip admits that she is "undeniably talented" in New Straits Times (28 August 2005). Amir Muhammad refers to Uthaya as "one of our brightest literary stars and has won many awards" in The Edge (19 November 2001) and "a local Haruki Murakami" in New Straits Times (28 January 2005). "Uthaya’s particular gifts lie in her narrative skill and playful deconstructions of the story form. She easily ranks among the finest writers in this country because her seriousness of purpose is wedded to an admirable lightness of touch. She has fun with the stories, and the fun is infectious" says Amir Muhammad in New Straits Times (13 February 2002) and "She has been one of our most prolific and consistent creative writers for over a decade" in Malay Mail (23 July 2008).

She is also known as "a writer who does not fail to capture the attention of her audience with her outspokenness and, not to forget, provocative introductions" as mentioned by Cheah Phaik Kin in New Straits Times (2 December 1998).

Her published books (all in Bahasa Malaysia) include:

• Orang Dimensi (1994)
• Nari! Nari! (1995)
• Siru Kambam (1996)
• Munis Dengan Harimau (1996)
• Hanuman: Potret Diri (1996)
• Yang Aneh-aneh (1997)
• Surat Dari Madras (1999)
• Nayagi (1999)
• Sasterawan Pulau Cinta (2001)
• Panchayat (2002)
• Rudra Avatara (2008)
• Kathakali (2009)
• Panchayat: Edisi Khas (2012)
• Kisah dari Siru Kambam (2013)
• Hanuman: Suara Hati (2013)
• Pulau Pendatang (2015)
• Nari! Nari! (2015)
• Malaiur Manikam (2015)
• Mandala Bicara (2016)
• Ikan Patin dan Beruang Besar (2017)
• Thirukkural dan Megha Duta (2018)
• Ramayana dan Mahabharata (2019)
• Vetalam dan Vikramaditya (2020)
• Bhagavad Gita (2021)

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• Uthaya Sankar SB on Blogger
• http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=35835 The Sun (Malaysia)