CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s literary ecosystem is fast closing the gap with Kerala in terms of the availability of translated works of several globally acclaimed books, with platforms such as the Chennai International Book Fair (CIBF) accelerating the process, panellists said on Saturday, the second day of the fair.
Officials noted that Kerala has historically maintained a robust translation culture, ensuring steady access to world literature in Malayalam. Similarly, the time taken for global works to be translated and made available in Tamil is steadily reducing, with the CIBF expanding opportunities for collaboration with foreign publishers and authors.
Speaking at one of the panel discussions, historian and Sahitya Akademi award-winning author A R Venkatachalapathy said there is a need to revive the practice of direct translations between Indian languages, instead of relying on English as an intermediary.
Nermin Mollaoglu, founder and head of the Istanbul-based Kalem Literature Agency, which represents Turkish authors internationally, said it would also be easier for foreign publishers to select Tamil titles for translation if the books are already available in multiple languages. More than 1,000 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) have been signed for translations from Tamil to other languages and vice versa. Officials said they expect the number to cross 1,500 by the end of the third day of the book fair.