Punjabi Writers’ Meet in Chandigarh highlights role of translation; Jag Bahadur Goyal’s story collection released
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, October 11, 2026: The Punjabi Lekhak Sabha, Chandigarh, in collaboration with the Punjab Arts Council, organised a discussion on the role of translation in literature at Punjab Kala Bhawan on Sunday, highlighting how translation connects languages and cultures and brings world literature to a wider readership.
The event, dedicated to International Translation Day, was presided over by noted writer and translator Jag Bahadur Goyal. His translated short-story collection, Maupassant to Munro (Mopasaan Ton Munro Tak), was also released on the occasion.
The collection features 16 short stories by 13 internationally renowned writers, representing around 175 years of the short-story tradition. The authors include Guy de Maupassant, Alice Munro, Kate Chopin, W. Somerset Maugham, Ivan Sancar, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Mikhail Naimy, Yashpal, John Henrik Clarke, Hernando Téllez, Gabriel García Márquez and Amos Oz.
During the discussion, speakers emphasised that translation is as important to literature as poetry, fiction, prose, novels and drama. They described translators as bridges between languages and cultures, enabling readers to access works beyond their own linguistic traditions.
Welcoming the participants, Balkar Sidhu, former president of the Punjabi Lekhak Sabha and a folk artist, said translation helps carry original writing into other languages. Bhajanbir Singh, who has translated 20 books from Hindi into Punjabi, observed that writers and translators play an important role in connecting society.
Noted translator Parvesh Sharma, who has translated nearly 100 books across Punjabi, Hindi, English and Urdu, stressed that a sound understanding of language and culture is essential for good translation. He said the beauty of translation lies in how a book becomes part of another language while retaining the essence of the original.
Yatinder Mahal said translation involves expressing an idea again and requires considerable linguistic skill. Deep Jagdeep Singh, a noted translator and thinker, praised the initiative and called for regular seminars on translation to help quality writing reach a wider readership.
In his presidential address, Goyal said a translator’s loyalty was to the meaning of a text rather than merely to its words. He also expressed concern that translators were not receiving the recognition they deserved in Punjabi literature.
Punjabi Lekhak Sabha president Deepak Sharma Chanarthal said such initiatives helped maintain the organisation’s literary standards. He also announced that the annual Tera Singh Chan Memorial Literary Festival would be held at Punjab Kala Bhawan on November 15, featuring literary and cultural performances as well as felicitation of distinguished personalities.
In his vote of thanks, translator and thinker Gurnam Kanwar cited Rasul Hamzatov’s My Dagestan as an example of a translated work that has been widely read by Punjabi audiences, noting that some translations gain readership beyond that of the original.
The event was attended by writers, intellectuals, journalists and research scholars, who participated in the discussion on the importance of translation in broadening the reach of literature.