This week saw Westland Publications announce that it had acquired the publishing rights to noted Bengali writer Manoranjan Bapari's works. The news augurs well for Dalit literature, which is increasingly being recognised by mainstream English publishers. Oxford University Press — a pioneer in translations — Speaking Tiger and Niyogi Books have already released six translated works this year, and more are in the pipeline. "Dalit literature is no longer a single tree, but an ecosystem and we should think of Eknath Awad's memoir [Strike A Blow To Change The World] and the poems of Hira Bansode and Premanand Gajvee's plays and works by so many others, as part of that rich wild forest," says Jerry Pinto, who translated two noted Dalit texts last month. Delhi-based translator Deeba Zafir describes Dalit literature as a "counter-canon" to the realism portrayed by Indian writers, and hence, cites the urgency for English readers to be exposed to more such powerful works. We bring you our top five picks of recently-released titles by writers from across India, and why they need to be on your book shelf.