Author: Jenny Bhatt

Jenny Bhatt is a writer, literary translator, and book critic. She is the founder of Desi Books. Her latest book is a literary translation, The Shehnai Virtuoso and Other Stories by Dhumketu. Her writing has appeared in various venues in the US, UK, and India, including The Atlantic, The Washington Post, NPR, BBC Culture, Literary Hub, Longreads, Poets & Writers, and others. Having worked her way around India, England, Germany, Scotland, and various parts of the US, she now lives in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. Find her at: https://jennybhattwriter.com.


#DesiCraftChat: N. Kalyan Raman on translating Vaasanthi’s Breaking Free and all that a translator brings to a text

Jenny Bhatt

Hello and welcome to Episode 83 of Desi Books—news and views about desi literature from the world over. I’m your host, Jenny Bhatt. Thank you for tuning in. In today's #DesiCraftChat, we have Kalyan Raman discussing his latest Tamil-to-English translation of Vaasanthi's novel, Breaking Free. We also discuss how he chooses the works to translate, what drew him to translate this novel, how a translator brings all their learning and experiences to their translation work, how he sees literary criticism and translation work as connected, and a lot more.

#DesiCraftChat: Nandita Dinesh on how the hybrid, nonlinear novel form helped her write about the effects of war

Jenny Bhatt

Hello and welcome to Episode 82 of Desi Books—news and views about desi literature from the world over. I’m your host, Jenny Bhatt. Thank you for tuning in. In today's #DesiCraftChat, we have Nandita Dinesh discussing her debut novel, This Place That Place, and how the hybrid, nonlinear novel form helped her write about the effects of war, how her theater and performance background informed this book, why she wanted to explore nuanced and ethical ways to engage with contexts we may not understand, and much more.