MALAPPURAM: The Malayalam University is all set to feature in this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest literature trade event conducted every October. The participation is a part of the university’s policy to internationalise Malayalam literature by promoting prominent works in Malayalam at global literary events. The university has also embarked on a larger project of translating them into prominent global languages.
The first book under the project is the German translation of Sethu's Pandavapuram. The book will be released on October 19 on the sidelines of the book fair in the German city. Copies of the book will also be distributed among universities in Germany, Indian Embassy and Malayalee groups. The university has also roped in some of the Kerala publishers who will get accommodated in the university’s stall at the fair.
“This is the first time Malayalam as a vernacular language is being officially represented at the Frankfurt show. The effort is to create a niche for Malayalam in the international literary scene. The fair would help meet many international publishers of various languages and literary agents," vice-chancellor K. Jayakumar said. "We will soon publish a catalogue of translators consisting around 100 well-known writers to reach out more global languages.”
Malayalam University has also signed pacts with various international publishers including Oxford University Press as part of the translation project. Orient Blackswan has published the first book A path and Many Shadows and Stories, the English translation of Rajalakshmi's Oru Vazhiyum Kure Nizhalukalum. The works of S.K. Pottakkad, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Lalithambika Antharjanam, Ambikasuthan Mangad and Khadeeja Mumtaz are in the pipeline.
