More than 750 MoUs signed at Chennai International Book Fair

Over 750 MoUs signed at Chennai International Book Fair 2024 to translate books, bridging gap between Indian and international publishers.

More than 750 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed for translation of books at the Chennai International Book Fair 2024 (CIBF), which concluded on Thursday.

The fair was a stage to bridge the gap between Indian and international publishers to translate literary works in Tamil into various languages. Publishers from 40 countries participated. With about 752 MoUs signed, the Tamil Nadu Translation Grant Committee will soon begin the process of giving translation grants to people.

Last year, over 350 MoUs for translations were signed, of which 52 books were released. Speaking at CIBF valedictory event, Minister for Sports Development and Youth Welfare Udhayanidhi Stalin said: “Artificial Intelligence can be used for translation, but as proved before, there needs to be a human touch at the end of it.”

The Minister also brought the spotlight on Kalaignar Centenary Library set up in Madurai and said that the DMK-led government had always laid stress on reading and writing habits. “Over 20,000 books are available in the libraries that have been set up in various constituencies. The books of today will speak about the legacy for tomorrow,” he said. Mr. Udhayanidhi also highlighted the mobile library set up in his constituency, Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni.

Nermin Mollaoğlu, founder of Kalem Agency, a publishing house from Turkey, said that she had the chance of meeting a Spanish publisher only at the Chennai International Book Fair despite having attended several such fairs. During Ms. Nermin’s second visit to the fair, about 50 MoUs to translate books into various languages were signed. With a catalogue of about 50 titles for children’s books and 50 adult titles, she said: “The reviews that have appeared in Tamil newspapers need to be translated to English as well, while ensuring that the summaries are written in English. The next step will be to send the writers abroad to various festivals and writers residencies.”

Many publishers after visiting CIBF have urged the government to conduct both the Chennai Book Fair and CIBF in the same location. “The visiting writers and publishers will be able to explore more,” said a publisher.

Meanwhile, the Chennai Book Fair 2024 has recorded over 8 lakh footfall. On January 16, it logged the highest footfall of over 80,000 people. “In the 19 days that the fair has been going on, a good crowd was seen only during the days of the Pongal festival,” said a volunteer at the book fair.