PUBLICATIONS
Books
Alka Saraogi, Register the Name Kulbhushan Please. Translated from Hindi by John Vater.
Penguin Random House India, forthcoming May 2026.
Gopinath Pillai and John Vater, More Than the Eye Can See.
World Scientific, 2022.
Kunwar Narain, The Play of Dolls: Stories. Translated from Hindi by John Vater and Apurva Narain.
Penguin Random House India, 2020.
Yuriy Serebriansky, Buddha. Translated by Anton Platonov, John Vater, and co-translators.
Chair Poetry Books, Kolkata, 2024.
The Illustrated Guide to the Meanings of Almaty. Translated by Anton Platonov and Edited by John Vater.
Ariadna Media, Almaty, 2016.
Academic and Policy Writing (selected)
“The Indus Waters Treaty: Prospects for India–Pakistan Peace.”
Institute of South Asian Studies, Working Paper, June 2021.
“Introduction: Biden and South Asia.”
Institute of South Asian Studies, South Asia Discussion Paper, January 2021.
“Is There a ‘BJP System’ in Indian Politics?”
Institute of South Asian Studies, Special Report, December 2020.
“The Great Game in Nepal: A Himalayan State’s Search for Higher Ground.”
Institute of South Asian Studies, Working Paper, September 2020.
“Narendra Modi and the Transformation of India’s Pakistan Policy.”
Institute of South Asian Studies, South Asia Scan, August 2020.
“Introduction to Europe in the Indo-Pacific: Moving from Periphery to the Centre?”
Carnegie India, June 2019.
Literary translation, essays & creative writing (selected venues)
Work has appeared in Ploughshares, Words Without Borders, Two Lines, The Asian Literary Review, The Bombay Review, Indian Literature Today, 91st Meridian, and others.
Translation discussions, talks & selected presentations
Literary Translation & Public Conversations
“Un-Distances: Kunwar Narain in Translation.”
Panel discussion and reading on recent translations of Kunwar Narain’s work.
Hosted by Oxford Bookstore and Westland Books, 2021.
“Translation and the Art of Thought in Kunwar Narain’s Short Fiction.”
Public lecture, 2020.
“Translation Discussion on Kunwar Narain.”
Conversation with Apurva Narain and Anjum Hasan on The Play of Dolls.
Hosted at Ashoka University.
“Translating Indian Literature into English.”
Panel discussion on the cultural stakes of translation.
Hosted by Samanvay Space.
“More Than the Eye Can See: Community, Memory, and Diplomacy.”
Book discussion with the Singapore Malayalee Literary Forum (Singapore Malayalee Association).
John Vater participated as co-author and delivered the closing address, 2023.
Translation Practice, Craft & Infrastructure
“Betwixt Craft and Research: Translation—The Twain Shall Meet.”
Invited lecture, Department of English, Shivaji College, University of Delhi, 2020.
“Don’t Call It a Startup: How to Create Your Own DIY Cultural Agency to Promote Translations.”
Panel presentation at the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) Conference on founding the South Asian Literature Translation Initiative (SALTI), 2016.
Academic, Policy & Public Scholarship
“The New BJP.”
Book discussion with Nalin Mehta.
South Asia Chat, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), 2022.
“All Roads Lead North: Nepal’s Turn to China.”
Author interview with Amish Raj Mulmi.
The Bookshelf, Institute of South Asian Studies, 2021.
“The Anxieties of Indian Populism: Hindu Nationalism’s Many Faces.”
Conference paper presented at “After Liberalism? Populism and the Future of Democracy.”
Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University, Melbourne.
“The (Un)translatables of Crime and Punishment: Indian Language Literature and Public Policy.”
Presenter, Translation Preconference, 27th Annual Conference on South Asia,
Madison, Wisconsin, 2018.
“Translating Bharat—Unity, Diversity and Equity.”
Presenter, From Walls to Bridges: Indian Literature and Translation,
Oxford Bookstore Translation Symposium, New Delhi, 2015.