found in translation – aflevering 15

25/12/2025 — Om te vieren dat mijn werk (ook de komende jaren) in zoveel talen vertaald wordt, heb ik besloten al mijn vertalers te interviewen. Omdat hun werk al te vaak onderbelicht blijft en zij meestal buiten beeld,  terwijl een boek in het buitenland maar zo goed is als zijn vertaler. Hun métier, koppigheid, taalgevoel, creativiteit en precisie zorgen ervoor dat een boek zijn ziel behoudt, dat het ritme klopt, het proza zingt, de betekenis niet verschuift en de spitsvondigheden niet afvlakken. In het beste geval wordt je boek er zelfs beter van dan het was. Omdat ik zelf ook weleens iets vertaal weet ik het maar al te goed: het is een (vaak onderbetaald) vak dat engelengeduld vraagt, vaak aartsmoeilijk en soms frustrerend is, maar dat ook intense voldoening kan schenken. En dat meer aandacht verdient.

Dus ziehier — een hommage aan de vertaler. In aflevering 15:

Anil Kumar Sarvepalli, die Trofee naar het Telugu vertaalde.
Het boek verschijnt dit najaar bij Chaaya Publications!

How do you start working at a translation?

I am running an audio podcast. I started it in 2020 to discuss Telugu literature by talking to writers and readers. In 2022  moved on to talking to English Translators across the world. I got interested in this art form and started doing translations from English to Telugu. All are relay Translations via English. ( Two Tamil novels by writer Jeyamohan, Two Norwegian Novels one by Arnie Svingen and the other by Jon Fosse – All translated from English and published. Fifth one Maigret’s Novel is under editing and Trofee is my sixth. )

Do you work together closely with the author, or not?
(Why? What’s the (dis)advantages?)

Yes I do. In the case of Norwegian and French novels I worked with English Translators. Tamil novels I worked with a Co-Translator who knows Tamil, the  author,  and the English Translator.  I find it enjoyable.

For me, translation feels like reading from the inside, where you try to look inside the author’s head and thus look at a text analytically. Can you still enjoy a book if you translate it ? Does translating change your way of reading ?

I don’t think it affects me that much, yes after i started translating i became a better reader certainly. But it’s not that it’s an impediment. But if the novel is really interesting after the first 20 – 30 pages, I keep thinking whether I will get a chance to translate.

How did my text come to you?

I am one of the directors in Chaaya Publications , which primarily focusses on Translation literature from across the world. We are doing a series called Chaaya Videshi, where we have acquired 25 titiles in 15 world languages. Flanders literature approached us. I have the role of book scout in Chaaya. So I picked ‘Trophy’ after reading the sample and a couple of other titles. Then zeroed on ‘Trophy’.

What did you like about translating my work, and what just bothered you ?

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The amount of detail about the animals, habits, habitat and about the hunt I just loved all of them. And writing it from a white man’s perspective made it really interesting for me. Once the boy is killed, and lions, hyenas are away from the scene, I thought the narration slowed down a bit. But that is expected as you are unravelling everything through an internal monologue.

Does secondary translation make it different?

No, that’s the only way I can read and translate  your work – through English.

Where were the challenges, the difficulties, the opportunities?

I won’t say challenges but in translation – especially when the work is from a far away culture, being a regular book reader/ traveller  I am aware of certain cultural aspects, even phrases, when it is mentioned casually in English. When I am translating I have to think like a reader who may not be exposed to those and gloss over them. So putting myself in the shoes of a normal reader is challenging as everything that we translate should make sense. (kindly note I am not referring to writing subtleties here) But in this novel the advantage is that Hunter and I – we both are foreign to African culture. So it was less of a challenge.

Which passage did you curse?

Grandfather forcing Hunter to kill the animal – That passage was a bit brutal but very important for the story and for the character development of Hunter.

What difficult choices did you encounter and how did you deal with them?

Difficult choices – This happens to me in every book that I translate, there are some words in English for which Telugu words are available but in certain places depending on the character (Especially in Dailog) I can’t use the telugu word and need to use the english word. For example in the case of Hunter he is an educated man and I have to put him in the place of a Telugu educated man when he is speaking –  As most of educated Telugu people (Study in English Medium schools these days)  do i might have to retain some words and even some phrases in English. But the translator in me says keep using Telugu words. But I have to strike a balance.

Does rhythm and colour or precision and meaning prevail for you?

Telugu and English these languages sound different and ways of expression are quite different. In translation Rhythm, Color ( Register?) and meaning are important to me. Meaning and register  is number one and two  priorities for me. Looking for precision in the way of expression comes last.

Which find were you particularly proud of?

The last few passages when Hunter is dying are vividly described and very poetically expressed. It was really challenging and fulfilling translating them.

Where did you encounter inevitable loss? How did you solve it?

As Damion Searls my favourite translator puts it – Text  loses English words and gains Telugu Words. I don’t think in terms of Loss. the same Content expressed through different medium of expression  catering to a whole new set of readers.

What is the most beautiful thing you ever translated (from anyone ) and what would you never want to translate?

Writer Jeyamohan (Tamil writer) – I translated a couple of his novels. There is a particular passage where the character visits a dilapidated temple and it reminds him of two incidents in this past life. I am really proud to have translated those, not that i translated them well but i got to translate such wonderful writing into Telugu. (It’s a novel called ‘White Elephant’ – Mcmillan is publishing it in the USA)

I don’t like translating sexual violence and I won’t.

What is the most beautiful translated sentence you ever wrote?

Can’t pick any one. This particular novel i would say – The phrase ‘Grey Ghost’ – in Telugu i Translated it as నీడ దయ్యం (Needa Dayyam ) – meaning Ghost made of shadow.  Translating it using the equivalent word for ‘Grey color’ in Telugu sounds very odd. Ghost made of Shadow – I felt it conveys the right meaning and felt nice coining that phrase. It took me a lot of time to coin it.

To what extent do you take current (language) sensitivities into account when translating? Is that explicitly requested? Have you already worked with sensitive readers?

All four novels are adult novels so far. But when translating into Telugu, Using cuss words like S**t and F*** – we dont use them in regular conversations, it looks very odd if I do.  So to express  frustration I have to use different phrases.

Is translation an art (and a matter of inspiration) or rather a profession (and therefore a craft)?

It’s an art form for me. I translate works if I am truly inspired as a reader and I feel like re-reading it in my mother tongue.

Why did you become a literary translator?

Please see the above answer.

What are the qualities of a good literary translator?

Should be highly Sensitive as a reader. Patience, perseverance to edit your own text multiple times till you get the tone right, and of course love for the languages, both source and destination languages.

Do you have a metaphor or an expression you like to use to describe translation?

Destination and source language texts are like two parallel wheels of a train.   Journey and destination are the same. But these two  are separated by  the difference in expression of the two languages.

When / where / how do you translate (don’t feel obliged to answer, I’m just always curious about workplaces, habits, work rhythms, etc.)?

In my bedroom, I sit in an arm chair at night once I come back from my office and finish my dinner and as long as I am in Hyderabad at home, I translate from 8.30 PM to 10.30 PM on most of the days. I use a macbook and I will have an E-copy of English text open on one window and the other will have google doc open for my Telugu Translation. On Holidays I do a couple of hours from 10 – 12.30 PM. I don’t socialize much and my family is very supportive in what I do.

 

Short bio  — Anil Kumar Sarvepalli

I have a Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and Post graduation In business Management. I run my own Business in Skill Development imparting engineering skills for Youngsters. Reading, Translation, and Photography are my hobbies.