Scroll.in’s 2023 year-end list, compiled by Chittajit Mitra, names 117 Indian books published in English translation that year. It spans many Indian languages and forms, from poetry and fiction to history, politics and classical works. The number is the list’s stated count—not an independently verified total of every Indian translation published in 2023.
What the list covers
Published on December 31, 2023, the list is a year-specific discovery guide rather than a review of every title. Scroll.in describes it as “A rich variety of fiction and nonfiction in translation.” Its entries draw on languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Bangla, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu, Urdu, Sanskrit, Odia, Gujarati and Rajasthani.
The range of forms includes stories, novels, poetry, drama, religious and classical works, biography, history and politics. That breadth makes the list useful for browsing beyond a single language or genre, but the entries do not provide comparative reviews or rankings. Read the list on Scroll.in.
Representative titles across languages and forms
These examples illustrate the variety of entries; they are not a ranked selection.
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| Title | Language | Author or credited contributor | Translation or editorial credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Sweet Salt of Tamil | Tamil | Tho Paramasivan | Translated by V. Ramnarayan |
| Marquez, EMS, Gulam and Others: Selected Short Stories | Malayalam | Benyamin | Translated by Swarup B. R. |
| Tirukkural | Tamil | Tiruvalluvar | Translated by Meena Kandasamy |
| The Parsi Theatre | Hindi | Somnath Gupt | Translated by Kathryn Hansen |
| The Garden of Tales | Rajasthani | Vijaydan Detha | Translated by Vishes Kothari |
| The Empty Space | Hindi | Geetanjali Shree | Translated by Nivedita Menon |
| The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told | Multiple languages | Edited by Arunava Sinha | Translated from multiple languages |
| Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry | Telugu | Edited by N. Venugopal and Meena Kandasamy | Multiple translators |
| Gandhi’s Travels in Tamil Nadu | Tamil | A. Ramasamy | Translated by P. C. Ramakrishna |
| Muslim Politics in India | Marathi | Hamid Dalwai | Edited and translated by Dilip Chitre |
| i, Salma: Selected Poems | Tamil | Not stated in the list entry | Translated by Srilata Krishnan and Shobhana Kumar |
| Paranoia | Marathi | Poetrywala | Translated by Mustansir Dalvi |
How to choose a starting point
Use the list’s metadata to narrow the field according to what you want to read, rather than treating its order as a recommendation.
- Start with a language: If you are exploring a particular language tradition, scan for its source-language label and compare the forms represented.
- Choose a form or subject: Look for poetry, short stories, novels, drama, classical writing, biography, history or politics, depending on your interests.
- Check the translation credit: Translators are identified contributors, not incidental details. For example, The Empty Space is credited to Geetanjali Shree and translator Nivedita Menon.
- Notice the kind of volume: Some entries are individual works; others are selected or edited collections, such as The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told and Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry.
- Use publisher names as leads, not availability guarantees: Entries name publishers including Penguin India, HarperCollins India, Seagull Books, Speaking Tiger, Hachette India, Westland Books, Orient BlackSwan and Aleph Book Company.
What the list does not establish
The page is a curated list, not an independent census of all Indian books translated into English in 2023. It also does not offer comparative assessments of the books, prices, formats, current stock or confirmation that a particular edition remains available. Before buying, check the publisher or retailer listing for the edition, language and translation you intend to read. The publisher attribution in the list alone does not confirm current availability.
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