Ponnar Shankar is a historical novel written by M. Karunanidhi, affectionately known as 'Kalaignar' (the artist). Karunanidhi was a prominent Tamil writer, poet, and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who authored many literary works including this historical fiction based on Tamil folklore. Anuradha Ramanan and Rajesh Kumar are also Tamil writers, but Ki. Rajanarayanan is known for different folk-themed works.