Touchable/Untouchable showcases extraordinary Dalit writing from India in translation. Dalit is the preferred term for the caste-oppressed communities in India formerly known as “untouchables.” Though untouchability has been outlawed in the Constitution of independent India since the middle of the twentieth century, Dalits continue to experience tremendous violence and social marginalization, including in the literary sphere.

Touchable/Untouchable presents, for the first time in English, work from five celebrated contemporary Dalit writers—poems by Tamil writer Sukirtharani, translated by Anushiya Ramaswamy; two excerpts from the Telugu novel Panchatantram by Bojja Tharakam, translated by Shirisha Amme; two works in Marathi, a creative/critical essay by iconic writer Baburao Bagul and a long poem by Pradnya Daya Pawar, both translated by Maya Pandit; and an excerpt from Murdahiya, an autobiography in Hindi by Tulsiram, translated by Joel Lee.