Meena Kandasamy – Women Dreaming, by Salma

Literary translations are everywhere, but how and why they’re undertaken is often hidden. In this special episode, that coincides with the beginning of Women in Translation Month, poet and novelist Meena Kandasamy explains her routes into and through her translation of Tamil writer Salma’s novel Women Dreaming. The book details the experiences of an extended family of Muslim women who live and long in a small village, and who are forced to confront cultural and practical obstacles to the attainment of their dreams. In this episode, Meena discusses Salma’s reputation and importance in India, the way the translation of her work lived alongside major events in Meena’s own life, and the political stakes of a book that some critics dismissed as a simple narrative of tearful women.

‘Translation is an activity of love and trust.’

Craft is brought to you by Wasafiri, the magazine of international contemporary literature. Check out our website, www.wasafiri.org, for outtakes and a full transcript of this interview, and much more from writers all over the world.

*** As a special offer, Tilted Axis Press, publishers of Women Dreaming, are providing 20% off purchases of the novel to all Craft listeners with the code CRAFT20 ***

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