Credited with introducing Tamil poetry and culture to the English-speaking world, Chelva Kanaganayakam brought together writers, scholars and intellectuals through his teaching and academic leadership, and provided a welcome community in Canada for transplanted Tamils.
His work at the University of Toronto, as a professor of English and distinguished scholar of postcolonial literature and South Asian studies, revitalized Sri Lankan Tamil literature at a time when a dialogue between two disparate cultural and literary traditions was most necessary.
