Mini Krishnan is no stranger to the world of Indian publishing. As translations editor for Oxford University Press (India), Krishnan has played an instrumental role in bringing to the fore, the genius of regional language literature to English readers. The passion of this literary doyen is noticeable, when we reach out to her over phone; her immediate response is, "Anything for translations." Krishnan doesn't disappoint us. She invests the next few hours walking us through her universe over several emails.

Her biggest contribution, though, has been as consultant editor of the translation programme of the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University. Despite lack of funds threatening to mar this academic and creative collaboration, not only did Krishnan bring out two iconic anthologies on Malayalam literature — The Oxford India Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Writing and most recently, The Oxford India Anthology of Modern Malayalam Literature — she has also spearheaded the translations of several other novels and memoirs in the language, with some winning prominent literary awards. If the works of Sarah Joseph, Lalithambika Antharjanam, Narayan and KR Meera among many others, have moved beyond the confines of Kerala, Krishnan's efforts cannot be ignored. It's not for nothing that other mainstream publishers are taking note of seminal work coming from this region.