Chief Minister to release English translation of Tamil literary works

Book release is expected to take place at the Chennai Book Fair this month

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is likely to release a set of books, including The Cilappatikaram, translated into English under the ‘Taking Tamil to the World project’. The book release is expected to take place at the Chennai Book Fair in the third week of February.

‘Taking Tamil to the World’ is a collaboration between Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation (TNTB and ESC) and private publishers to promote the rich literary history and culture of Tamil Nadu. It was launched in 2017 when T. Udayachandran was the Secretary of the School Education Department.

Twin objectives

“The objective is not only to promote translation of Tamil works in English and take it to global audience, but also encourage reading of Tamil literary works among the generation that does not know Tamil,” said Sankara Saravanan, Deputy Director (Translation), Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.

The books slated to be released by the Chief Minister are

The Cilappatikaram translated into English as The Tale of an Anklet , Sahitya Akademi award winner Thoppil Mohamed Meeran’s stories, Tamil writer S. Ramakrishnan’s Katha Vilasam , writings about Tamil short story writers, essays of U.Ve. Swamintha Iyer, Hephzibah Jesudan’s novel Putham House and short fictions by Dalit writers titled In Defiance-Our Stories . These are the six of the set of 12 books selected for translation.

“Regional literary works translated into English are a rage and there is a huge market for the books. Literary, Cultural, Dalit and Feminist studies are holding a hand with translation in the academic world. The translation cements the ties,” said Mini Krishnan, Co-ordinating Editor, TNTB and ESC.

Dr. Sarvanan said another 22 books have been finalised for translation this year under Thisaithorum Dravidam, a project to identify Tamil literary works and translate them into English and other Dravidian languages to enhance the reach of the treasure house of the Tamil literary, historical and social traditions.

“Significant literary writings from other Dravidian languages will be translated into Tamil,” he explained.

As part of the project, Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvam is being translated into Malayalam by DC Books. Jayakanthan’s Oru Manithan Oru Veedu Oru Ulagam , stories by former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai, Sahitya Akademi winner Imayam’s stories, Gandhi’s travels in Tamil Nadu, Kalki’s another novel Alai Osai are some of the books finalised for translation.

“We are also publishing a glossary so that readers will get an idea about Tamil culture,” Dr. Sarvanan said.