From Malayalam to English & Tamil and now to Turkish; grant to translate S Mahadevan Thampi's novel into Turkish

THRISSUR: A Malayalam novel is being translated into Turkish and published with a special grant. This rare opportunity is for S. Mahadevan Thampi's novel 'Alakalillatha Kadal'.

'Purge', the English translation of the novel, which has already been translated into Tamil, is being translated into Turkish. P Muraleedharan, a journalist, translator and storyteller, is the one who translated 'Alakalillatha Kadal' to 'Purge' in English. SIBF has issued a notice and order awarding a special grant for the translation into Turkish and publication of this book which was selected from the Sharjah Book Festival. Akif Pamuk is in charge of publishing. The Turkish version should be published before the next Sharjah Book Festival. Green Books, the publisher of the novel, said it was a remarkable recognition for a Malayalam book.

Translated into Tamil as 'Melum Sila Raththa Kurippugal', the novel was noticed by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore as well. 'Purge' has also been widely discussed in Western universities in the category of creative work on conflict zones. Released in three editions in Malayalam, 'Alakalillatha Kadal' was written against the backdrop of the Tamil agitation in Sri Lanka and the influx of refugees from there to India. S. Mahadevan Thampi's novel 'Azadi', based on the Kashmir issue, was also internationally acclaimed.