New Delhi, July 15 - Writer-editor-translator Ira Pande, a familiar face in the capital's literary circuit, feels Indian readers do not pay much attention to 'translated literary works'.

'It is because publishers do not take the trouble to source good translators or invest sufficiently in translated works,' Pande told IANS in an interview.

'Even the Sahitya Akademi has failed to promote translation for reasons that need not concern us. It seems to me that each time we present a book as a translated work, we offer an apology for writing in a language that is not the globalised and the mainstream one. This shows a terrible lack of faith in our literary worth and self-image,' Pande rued.

The writer, who edits the India International Centre (IIC)'s quarterly journal and is chief editor of the IIC's publication department, has won her second Vodafone-Crossword literary award nomination for her book 'T'TA Professor' in the translation category for 2008.

The awards will be conferred July 23.

She had earlier won a nomination in the non-fiction category for 'Diddi: My Mother's Voice', published by Penguin in 2005.

'T'TA Professor', a Hindi novel by former journalist and Sahitya Akademi Award winning writer Manohar Shyam Joshi (who died in 2006), is the story of a small town teacher, who is known as T'TA Professor. His life is seen through the eyes of a young aspiring writer, who visits the professor's village in Kumaon.

The book was published by Penguin Books-India in 2008.

'I decided to translate the book three years ago because I had long admired Manohar Shyam Joshi's writing and I am passionate about translating good Hindi writing into English,' Pande said.

Recounting the making of the book, she said: 'Joshi ji had once asked me after reading the translation of my mother, noted Hindi writer Shivani's works, to translate something from his work.