Mitra Phukan is a writer, translator, columnist, and classical vocalist. Her publications include children’s books, a biography, novels (The Collector’s Wife [2005], A Monsoon of Music [2011]), a collection of short stories A Full Night’s Thievery (2016), and a collection of newspaper columns Guwahati Gaze (2013). She has recently translated a novel Blossoms in the Graveyard (2016). Her fortnightly column “All Things Considered” in The Assam Tribune is widely read. She is an active member of “Aradhana”, an organization that takes music to the underprivileged sections of society, and a founder member of the North East Writers’ Forum. She lives in Guwahati, Assam.
“I do write a lot about music, reviews of theatre. At one point, I was a professional musician. Translation takes a huge amount of time, and I am humbled by all writers who approached me for this. It has not that I stopped writing fiction; I do. Pandemic has put a stop to many things, but we were moving. I do write children stories to get into their minds. Initially, there was a lot of violence in my writing, but as I became a senior citizen, I wrote a lot about ageism. Assamese community is a small reader-writer. So it’s very important to bring those stories in English to a wider audience. English has a wider reach, but Assamese Sahitya Sabha has membership in lakhs. People are enthusiastic, even younger writers who write about contemporary things. People are reading in Assamese, including English. A lot of books are sold in exhibitions. Northeast has huge oral literature, and writing came later. Due to missionaries, the school might have chosen to write in English. Self-editing is important while writing or translating. You have to hold the theme. I’m not too fond of footnotes; rather, I choose to describe if something has to explain. We have to correct the draft if the content doesn’t make sense to non-Assamese personal. But not explaining every time is good. Because theme may get lost in the process.”