The Tamil publishing industry, one of the oldest in the country, is facing a dwindling readership. Translating well-known Tamil novels and non-fiction into English and other Indian languages could be a way forward, but shortage of translators is an issue, say industry players.

Only a few have been translated to English or other languages like Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan , a historic fictional novel.

Gandhi Kannadasan, Proprietor, Kannadasan Publishers, said: “There are so many contemporary novels and non-fiction works in Tamil that have wide readership and could be translated.”

But lack of interest among publisher and dearth of quality translators, who can do justice to the work, have restricted many good books to the shelves of libraries and a few stores.

For example, he has been planning to get the popular series of books Arthamulla Indhu Madham written by his father, Kannadasan, translated.

But he is yet to find someone who will do justice to the book and one who will fit his budget at the same time. Translators are either part-timers who lack seriousness or professionals who demand exorbitant money.

Low on awareness

Tamil books have a potential market size of seven crore readers, but only less than a quarter of that population are aware of new books hitting the market. Around 2,500 titles are published every year.

Kannadasan said with so many books published in a year, we hardly see any works that create an impact like that of its peers in Malayalam, Bengali or English.

“Short stories by Jayamohan and Nedunchalai by Kanmani Gunasekharan are one of the best books I read in the recent times. But they are not doing as well as they should,” he said.

V Kadambari, Former Associate Professor, Department of English, Ethiraj College and a translator, agrees.

She said, “Many good books do not reach readers not only due to lack of dedicated translators but publishing houses as well.” In addition to translating to English, publishers should look at other Indian languages as well, she added.

Olivannan G, Founder of Emerald Publishers, said demand for literature in Indian languages has increased in recent times in international book fairs like Frankfurt. “People are willing to buy rights for Tamil books and translate to English. Malayalam and Bengali books findbuyers, thanks to availability of rights agents. Sadly, our industry lacks such resources,” he said.

In order to take the books to an international stage, Olivannan is starting an agency that will help publishers take their books to a larger platform. The publishers will have to invest close to ₹40,000 to translate one book. The cost will include finding prospective buyer, participation in international book fair, translation and contract fee.

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