There was a session at 'Fineprint Fever' on Saturday at Nepal Academy of Sciences, Dublin - 'What kind of language difference, how much difference in meaning?'

While the discussion on the translation was going on, the facilitator asked, ‘Why should readers read the English translation of a Nepali book?’

Author Amar Neupane explained, citing a memorable example, ‘We also don’t want to be writers of Nepal, we want to be writers of the world.’

The authors, Neupane and Nayanraj Pandey, and translator Niranjan Kunwar were on stage.

The English version of Neupane’s novel ‘Seto Dharti’ has been published under the title ‘The White Life’, while the English translation of Pandey’s ‘Sallipir’ has also been made public under the title ‘Alphabets in the Snow’. Anurag Basnet has written the novel ‘Sallipir’, a gripping tale of the suffering of a Himalayan character. And ‘Seto Dharti’, which tells the story of a widow, has been translated into English by Niranjan Kunwar.

While discussing this translated book, Neupane added, ‘Literature has no country. The US Constitution governs only America. It applies only to that country. But an American writer does not want to be only American. He belongs to the world.’

Sharing his experiences, writer Pandey recalled the complexity and beauty of translation. Pandey praised the beauty of the translation of the poem at the beginning and end of ‘Sallipir’. ‘I saw how that poem turned out. The translation was very sweet,’ he added, ‘Sometimes, the writer’s expectation is that what I had written should have come out exactly as I had written it.’ We are trying to translate literally.'

But that is not possible in translation. Recalling his two decades of translation work, when he visualized words, he said, 'I knew how many challenges there are when converting words into a story to see. I thought it would be even more challenging when converting something to read into words.'

Therefore, the translation made by the translator, keeping the poetry alive, gave Pandey satisfaction. He feels that a good translation can only be achieved by knowing the language. He is interested in translations done by understanding the feelings of the author. He said with a mixture of experience and feeling, 'Translators must have a unique art.'

When 'Sallipir', which had already completed a decade of publication, came out, there was some resentment among readers and critics. It was also said, 'It would have been better if Nayan had not written this.'

He grew up in Madhesh. How did he write the story of the mountain he had not climbed? He answered the questions that kept coming from this platform of 'Fineprint Fever'.

Adding the example of the writer Neupane sitting nearby, he said, 'Amarji also went to Nepalgunj and wrote wonderful stories.' Pointing out that there is a belief in Nepal that a writer should write only about his environment, he tried to break it, 'It may be more believable than about his environment.' But if we continue to believe that only that is right, the practice of writing books will become narrow.'

Giving the example of the film 'Gravity' released in 2013, he clarified, 'Except for one or two scenes in this movie, it is entirely in space. But the writer has not gone to space.' A writer can leave Kathmandu and go to Madhesh, climb the Himalayas.'

Translator Kunwar, who was sitting between the two writers, spoke about the joy he felt in translating 'Seto Dharti'. He recalled that he started it at the beginning of the Covid period. 'I got the opportunity to translate this book when everyone was locked in their homes. I focused on it for two years by creating a regular routine,' he said.

Neupane was also thrilled to remember the happy journey of the book published 14 years ago. He felt that others should also read this unique story. He was waiting for those beautiful coincidences.