Flowers at Dawn
Singai Ma Elangkannan
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810735364

War is coming and Anbrasan's life is about to change forever. An immigrant from Tamil Nadu, Anbrasan arrives in Singapore in the 1940s, at a time when society is ripe for change. He is drawn by the charismatic Indian National Army leader Subhas Chandra Bose, and fights with the Japanese against the British. In this stirring novel of war, family and love, originally written in Tamil, Cultural Medallion Award winner Singai Ma Elangkannan explores the captivating story of India's struggle for independence through the lens of Anbrasan's political and sexual awakening.

Under the pen name Singai Ma Elangkannan, M. Balakrishnan has written six collections of short stories and six novels. His work has previously been translated into English and Malay, telecast on Radio Singapore and made into a television drama. A winner of both local and international short story writing competitions, Balakrishnan was the first Tamil writer to receive the S.E.A. Write Award in 1982. He has won the Tamizhavel Award (Gold), the Singapore Literature Prize and Singapore's Cultural Medallion.