Vilakku Literary Society of United States was initiated by a group of friends in 1994 with a goal to promote the understanding and create interest in contemporary Tamil literature. As part of this goal, the Society has established a literary award in the name of Puthumaipithan, a pioneer of modern Tamil fiction. The cash award recognizes the contributions of Tamil writers who have not been recognized by institutional awards before. The first award was given to C.S. Chellappa in 1996. Chellappa established and edited one of the most influential Tamil literary magazines in the 20th century, Ezhuthu, which is considered to be the launchpad of many new era poets experimenting free verse and played the historical role in establishing it as a new literary genre in Tamil.

Vilakku Literary Society, Inc. was formally incorporated as a non-profit entity in 1998. The Society has been functioning uninterrupted for more than a quarter century. Since 2018 two awards are given, one each for creative writing and non-fiction. So far, 32 writers have been recognized.

The awards are funded by contributions of members and also, by generous donations from the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) and Prabha Bala and Bala Swaminathan Family foundation in the last few years.

The awards for the previous year are announced in the middle of October and presented to the winners in a ceremony in Tamilnadu, usually in the following January. A mini-symposium on the works of the awardees is part of the award presentation ceremony.

Executive Committee

Vilakku is supported by members and administered by a six-member Executive Committee.
President: N. Gopalaswamy, Rockville, MD, USA
Vice President: G. Rajaram, New Haven, CT, USA
General Secretary: M. Sundaramoorthy, Nashville, TN, USA
Member: Sornam V. Sankar, Ellicott City, MD, USA
Member: Senthivel Vellaisamy, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Member: P. K. Sivakumar, New Jersey, USA

Jury Panel

Vilakku awardees are selected by a panel of three judges. The panel is reconstituted every three years. The current panel (2022-24) is comprised of:
Prof. V. Geetha (Social Science Researcher, Writer & Translator), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
C. Mohan (Writer, Translator and Publisher), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
R. Shanmuga Sundaram (Translator), Mayiladuthurai, Tamilnadu, India

Coordinators in India

Activities of Vilakku such as event organization and media management in India are coordinated by:
A. Vetrivel, Madurai, Tamilnadu, India (Chief Organizer)
‘Veli’ Rangarajan, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India (Co-organizer)