Westland has announced the publication of award-winning author Perumal Murugan’s new novel, Estuary (Kazhimugam in Tamil). The book has been translated from the Tamil into English by Nandini Krishnan and will be published on 20 July under Westland’s language imprint, Eka.
Estuary explores the human condition—the pathos, helplessness, anguish, and the frustration of failure and the near-insanity to which it can drive someone—through the endearing story of a father and son.
Murugan’s first novel in an urban setting, it is also a razor-sharp parody of everything from e-commerce to the fitness industry, art appreciation to political manipulation, grind schools to social networks, plagiarism to moral policing, religion to legalese.
Commenting on the new book, Perumal Murugan said in a statement released to the press, “This is my first novel which is not set in the countryside. Writing about a town and urban experience gave me the thrill of entering and exploring a new world.”
Nandini Krishnan the translator said, “Translating Murugan’s work is as much a challenge as a delight. He is a Tamil scholar, a craftsman of language and narrative, and a son of his soil. I was often in a dilemma—should I go with literal translation, or take ownership of the book and translate the tone and flavour of his language? I would consult him about this. I will cherish our conversations about the translation, because I had a glimpse of Perumal Murugan, the professor. He would take me to the interior villages of Tamil Nadu with evocative description, and could never resist speaking about the etymology of words and idioms. I believe these conversations gave me the tools to capture the lyricism and imagery that are as integral to his writing as his skill as a storyteller.”
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Perumal Murugan is the author of eleven novels, five collections of short stories and five anthologies of poetry in Tamil. Three of his novels translated into English—Poonachi: Or the Story of a Black Goat, Trial by Silence and A Lonely Harvest—were shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature in 2018 and 2019.
His other novels translated into English include Seasons of the Palm, shortlisted for the Kiriyama Prize in 2005, Pyre, Current Show and One Part Woman. Murugan is now the principal at the Government Arts College in Namakkal.