How a publisher and a foundation are furthering translations between India’s languages

In the month of August in Delhi, three women author-translators – Arshia Sattar, Rita Kothari, and Urvashi Butalia – joined a panel titled “Translation as Exploration”. While Sattar, renowned for her translations of classical Sanskrit texts, emphasised that translation is “a political act” based on one’s position and practice, Kothari, as a translator and theorist of translation mentioned that it is “a very big part of reorienting what we consider as knowledge”.

These comments came against the backdrop of the success of the Zubaan-Prabha Khaitan Foundation Translation Series. In 2021, the independent feminist publishing house, Zubaan, and the non-profit trust Prabha Khaitan Foundation, founded by the late novelist and poet Prabha Khaitan, came together to promote the works of women authors, particularly feminist literature.

It is interesting to note the language dynamics and literary polysystems this collaboration is located in, as the project involves taking Zubaan’s English titles into the other languages of India through translation. How does an independent publisher execute such a project?

To begin with, it reaches out to other publishers for suggestions and invites applications. It generates interest and initiates conversations across and between languages. It also asks the publisher of the translation how much of the grant will...

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