Local author and writer Kalpana Mohan spoke about books in translation at the Saratoga Library in Saratoga, Calif. on April 6, 2024, to a crowd of friends, family, and library patrons.
Mohan talked about what she had loved and learned about fiction and nonfiction written in the world’s many languages, specifically some of the books that ultimately made it into the English language. She read aloud passages from certain translated works that she said fascinated her, including Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s “100 Years of Solitude.” She reiterated the importance of acknowledging and crediting the translator in written works.
Mohan also discussed some of the works she’s been reading weekly since February 2022 when she started working on a project called LETTERS FROM EVERYWHERE.
During a short Q&A section after the presentation author Raj Oza asked if there were any books that Mohan would like to translate. Tamil is her native language. After moving from India to the US, Mohan maintained her familiarity with it through the Tamil publication Ananda Vikatan. But, she said, she had no goals of attempting translations of her own.
