LookAtVietnam – When she was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 12 years of age, Nguyen Bich Lan turned to literature, her favourite school subject, for solace.

Spreading the word: Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 12, Nguyen Bich Lan turned to literature, her favourite school subject, for solace. Now she’s a translator.

Despite her poor health, Lan was able to finish secondary school. After she graduated, she taught herself spoken and written English for four years, six hours a day.

Born in 1976 in the northern province of Thai Binh, Lan was in the seventh grade when she was diagnosed with the disease, which left her frail and weak.

In 2002, at the urging of her family, Lan began to translate English novels into Vietnamese.

She has translated 16 novels, including Never Doubt My Love by Australian author Daisy Thompson, From the Nile to Jordan by Israeli writer Ada Aharoni, and Q&A by Indian author Vikas Swarup. The latter was used as the basis for the film Slumdog Millionaire, which received eight Oscar awards, including the award for best film.

“Translations of literature have helped me to live,” Lan says. “I feel happy doing a job that not only satisfies my love for fiction but is also helpful to readers.”

Lan’s poems and short stories have been published in many newspapers as well.

On August 15, Lan’s most recently translated book, Q&A, was released by the Nha Nam Publishing House and Literature Publishing House.

The novel tells the story of Ram Mohammad Thomas, a poor, uneducated waiter who becomes the biggest quiz show winner in India’s history, only to be sent to jail on false charges that he had cheated.

The story depicts poor people’s life in a slum in Mumbai, their innocent ambitions and turbulent love affairs, says Lan.

Lan, who chose the novel because of her love and knowledge for Indian culture, began translating Q&A in April and worked eight hours a day, two more hours than she usually does.

Thanks to support from author Swarup who helped explain Hindi words to Lan, she was able to finish the story on deadline.

“I believe that people who saw the movie will want to read Q&A,” she says.

Lan is currently completing the translation of British author’s William Woodruff’s autobiography The Road to Nab End about his impoverished upbringing in an English weaving community during the Great Depression. It contains social commentary about the conditions in which he lived.

It will be published later this year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News