{
  "id": 5720050,
  "title": "Vivek Shanbhag’s Hyphen wants to change how Indian-language literature is read",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/vivek-shanbhags-hyphen-wants-to-change-how-indian-language-literature",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-05T04:31:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/vivek-shanbhags-hyphen-translations-indian-language-literature-read-10864075/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Vivek Shanbhag, a Kannada novelist and playwright, believes that Indian-language literature should be read and appreciated as literature in its own right, rather than being confined to its original language. His suggestion has turned into a reality through the establishment of Hyphen, a literary journal, publishing house, and digital platform. Hyphen aims to bring Indian-language writing into a wider conversation, making it accessible to readers worldwide.\n\nShanbhag's idea for Hyphen grew out of conversations with literary friends in Kannada and other Indian languages over several decades. The project is the result of a desire to understand how writers in Indian languages respond to political, social, and economic changes, as well as larger concerns and conflicts of our times. Shanbhag's experience editing Desha Kaala, a Kannada literary magazine, helped him realize the richness and distinctiveness of the diversity of styles and traditions across Indian languages. He also recognized the difficulty in discovering these writers when their work could not be encountered first-hand.\n\nThe challenges faced during the process of scouting new work for Desha Kaala included long periods before some writers reached English-language readers. However, the team always discovered unexpected gems along the way. Shanbhag emphasizes that Hyphen offers a fuller literary experience by engaging with readers through three distinct modes: the print journal, the website, and the publishing house. The print journal showcases a rich diversity of writing, allowing readers to explore and reflect at their own pace. The website adds articles, book reviews, poetry, fiction, plays, and interviews throughout the week. The publishing house takes on the longer process of bringing full-length books into English and integrating them into a larger publishing ecosystem.\n\nShanbhag acknowledges the unusual global attention to Indian-language writing, citing Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand, translated into English, and Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp, both of which have won prestigious awards. However, he cautions against mistaking a prize cycle for lasting change. Awards highlight their winners, but true and lasting change occurs when readers have access to a wide range of writers, enabling Indian-language authors to enter literary conversations on their own terms, instead of being repeatedly celebrated as translation success stories. Hyphen's mission is to ensure that readers have the opportunity to experience the ideas, worldview, and craft of many world-class writers working in Indian languages.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}