Dear guest translators,
This blog is open to guest translators
who wish to publish/post their translations. Interested readers can send their
translations (Only English Translations). Re-translation of stories/fictions
already translated may be avoided. You may consider re-translation if there is
a strong justification. Kindly stick to ethical values of plagiarism.
Please obtain permission from the copy right holders in applicable cases. (Not
applicable to public domain/ nationalised body of literary works). You may send your
translations, if interested, to solitaryindian78@gmail.com. While sending the
translations, please ensure that original Tamil story is also attached for
cross reference. If the original story is available online, you may send the
link.
At present, this blog is primarily meant for posting English
translation of Tamil short stories and poems. Do not send full length novels. If
you want to send any full length novel of any size, you may send it in parts at regular intervals.
Though I won't scrutinize your
translations word by word, I personally request you to kindly take note of the following.
1. This is my personal blog. The
contributions in this blog are purely voluntary. The guest translators won’t be
paid any honorarium for their contributions. The translators don't have to pay anything to get their works posted in this blog.
2. Grammar rules are respected here.
But I don't expect your language to be high school English with "Wren and
Martin" rules. Chaste English is fine but not a preferred bride here.
Anyone reading your piece must be able to judge that the translator is not new to the nuances
of English language. Simple slips that can be corrected with a cursory glance are not a bench mark to ascertain one's core skills in English. So don't worry about petty slips.
3. Please keep it readable. The
translation should be readable if not commanding the required literary
merit.
4. Please avoid verbosity unless it is
seriously required. If you feel that the word ‘suffocation’ is sufficient, stick to it
instead of using ‘asphyxiation’ unless you feel that the previous one is insufficient
in some aspects.
3. Please ensure that a reader should
be able to understand what you convey through your language without overtly
digressing from the original text. You may be very good at language but it does not give you liberty to reproduce the original disregarding ethics of translation. You are communicating with the readers
through your translations and remember some of them are pretty well versed in English language
and translation works (Though they don't translate).
4. Before sending, kindly go
through your translation at least twice to avoid spelling errors.
5. Please
respect punctuation.
6. I will be happy to publish your photograph along with original author. Send your photograph and very brief introduction about yourself, if you like. People love to know about translators.
7. Last but not the least, please don't rely on Google translator or any such AI tools for translation. Believe in your skills and gut feel. Please remember AI tools may help in academic translation not in literary translation. It will produce nonsense due to its algorithm which will never be able to think like human brain. Use AI tools ONLY for checking punctuation and proof-reading. DEFINITELY NOT FOR LITERARY TRANSLATION.
Simple tip for a good translation: (I hope I am not presumptuous. It is only for the beginners) Read as many English novels as possible written after 1950s and novels written in English about Indian society/ contexts. Books by R. K Narayan, Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Manohar Malgonkar, Shoba Dey, Chethan Bhagat (though I don't recommend the last two), would be of great help. Pay attention to actions/situations and emotions described.
With lots of love,
Saravanan Karmegam.
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