Susan Bernofsky's Blog, page 16

Free 2018 One-Day Literary Translation Institute at Long Island University in Brooklyn

The free one-day Literary Translation Institute held in 2017 in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Long Island University in Brooklyn was such a success that we’re repeating the experiment this year. This day-long program to be held from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 9, 2018, and is suitable for both novices and experienced translators. The day will begin with presentations by faculty – Gregary Racz, Christopher Winks, and me (Susan Bernofsky) – in the morning, followed after lunch (provided!) by introductory-to-advanced workshops. You needn’t ever have translated anything at all to participate; the most important prerequisite is an interest in learning more about literary translation. For more information and to apply write to the MFA Program Office as far as possible in advance of the application deadline, which is Friday, June 1, 2018. I hope you’ll come talk translation with us!

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2018 Found in Translation Award Announced

The Found in Translation Award presented to a translator from Polish of a work published in the previous year, has gone to Jennifer Croft for her translation of Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) and Text Publishing (Australia) in 2017, and forthcoming from Riverhead Books (US) in 2018. The award is jointly presented by the Polish Book Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute in London, and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York.

For more information about the book, the award, and a list of previous winners, please visit the Polish Cultural Institute website. Congratulations!

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2018 Dublin Literary Award Shortlist Announced

The Dublin Literary Award shortlist has just been announced, and more than half of it is literature in translation. One of the biggest literary prizes in the world, the Dublin Literary Award is also exceptional in that the books are all nominated by libraries and librarians. The award is sponsored by the Dublin City Council and the municipal government of Dublin, and administered by Dublin City Public Libraries. The winner will be announced on June 13. Here are the six works in translation from the 10-book shortlist. For the full list and more information about the prize, shortlist, and nominating libraries, see the Dublin Literary Award website.

Baba Dunja’s Last Love by Alina Bronsky, translated from the original German by Tim Mohr

The Transmigration of Bodies by Yuri Herrera, translated from the original Spanish by Lisa Dillman

The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen, translated from the original Norwegian by Don Bartlett & Don Shaw

Human Acts by Han Kang, translated from the original Korean by Deborah Smith

Distant Light by Antonio Moresco, translated from the original Italian by Richard Dixon

Ladivine by Marie Ndiaye, translated from the original French by Jordan Stump

Congratulations to all the shortlisted translators, and may the best book win!

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Translation on Tap in NYC, April 1 – 30, 2018

Wishing everyone a happy April, a.k.a. Robert Walser’s birth month (4/15/1878). I’m delighted to announce that there are some lovely translation events coming up soon – check out the listings below! Some of them are part of the PEN World Voices Festival, which is running this year under the title “Resist and Reimagine.” This year’s festival presents a great-looking lineup that I recommend you check out, though I am troubled by the choice of speaker for the traditionally progressive Arthur Miller Freedom to Write lecture this year (and also the unprecedented $125 ticket price, which says a lot about the audience being catered to here). On the other hand, I’m glad to see Chelsea Manning on the program; I clearly remember unsuccessfully trying to get PEN to issue a statement of support for her half a dozen years ago – back when she was in prison awaiting trial, and this year’s Arthur Miller lecturer was running the State Department. Manning would have made a good Arthur Miller speaker.

So here’s what’s coming up:

Friday, April 13:

Her Mother’s Mother’s Mother and Her Daughters: launch event featuring translator Eric M. B. Becker in conversation with the book’s author, Maria José Silveira. More information here. McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince St., 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 17:

Playing with Fire: Theater in Translation as Resistance, featuring translators Michael Eskin, Agnes Walder, and Jeremy Tiang in conversation with Martin Puchner. PEN World Voices Festival event, more information here. Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St., 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 18:

Beyond Borges: Argentina’s Unsung Greats, featuring translators Esther Allen, Heather Cleary, and Charlotte Whittle, joined by Sergio Chejfec and Edwin Frank, moderated by translator Eric M.B. Becker. PEN World Voices Festival event, more information here. Book Culture, 26-09 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 19:

Resonances: Translator Rowan Ricardo Phillips joins fellow writers from around the world: Alicia Kopf, Xiaolu Guo, and Aminatta Forna for a reading and discussion including works that have influenced them,  moderated by Bridgett Davis. PEN World Voices Festival event, more information here. Newman Conference Center, Rm. 750, Baruch College, 151 E. 25th St., 6:00 p.m.

Also Thursday, April 19:

Being Dag Solstad: translator Lydia Davis joins Dag Solstad and John Freeman for a conversation about Solstad’s work. PEN World Voices Festival event, more information here. Shakespeare and Co., 939 Lexington Ave. (between 68th/69th St.), 6:30 p.m.

Also Thursday, April 19:

The Translation Slam is always a favorite event at the PEN World Voices Festival. This year’s slam, cohosted by Michael Moore and Jeremy Tiang, features translators Bonnie Huie and Amanda Lee Koe translating Macao poet Un Sio San, and translators Mara Faye Lethem and Mary Ann Newman translating Catalan poet Maria Cabrera Callís. This is a ticketed event, likely to sell out, so get your tickets soon. More information here. Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 236 3rd Ave., 7:00 p.m.

Friday, April 20:

Us&Them: A Writer-Translator Reading Series. The Spring 2018 installment of this reading series featuring writers who are also translators reading both their own and translated work will present Judith Wordsworth translating Abla Farhoud (Montreal); Jenny McPhee translating Curzio Malaparte (Italy); Sverrir Norland translating Sverrir Norland (Iceland); and Cristina Pérez Díaz translating Julia de Burgos (Puerto Rico). More information here. Molasses Books, 770 Hart St. (Dekalb L), Brooklyn, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 21:

Translation and the Powers of Language: translator Mary Ann Newman moderates this conversation with Alicia Kopf, Judith Santopietro, Trifonia Melibea Obono, and Rubén Ríos-Avila about language and power relationships with particular attention to Spanish. PEN World Voices Festival event, more information here. Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St., 12:00 p.m.

Also Saturday, April 21:

The Trick of Translation: Translator Jhumpa Lahiri speaks with Domenico Sarnone about her most recent translation, of his novel Trick, moderated by Michael Reynolds. PEN World Voices Festival event, tickets required, more information here. Subculture, 45 Bleecker St., 5:00 p.m.

Also Saturday, April 21:

Pablo Neruda: The Poetry of Resistance: translators Forrest Gander and Idra Novey speak with Mark Eisner and Cecilia Vicuña. PEN World Voices Festival event, more information here. Poet’s House, 10 River Terrace, 7:00 p.m.

Also Saturday, April 21:

Legacy of an LGBTQ Countercultural Icon: translators Bonnie Huie and Ari Larissa Heinrich join Eileen Myles to discuss the work of Qiu Miaojin. PEN World Voices Festival event, tickets required, more information here. Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St., 7:30 p.m.

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Apply Now for a 2018 ALTA Travel Fellowship

Spring is here, time to apply for an ALTA Travel Fellowship if you’re an emerging translator interested in learning more about the wonderful world of literary translation. The American Literary Translators Association offers roughly a half-dozen $1000 fellowships each year to help emerging (= unpublished or minimally published) translators attend the conference. One of these, the Peter K. Jansen Memorial Travel Fellowship inaugurated in 2016, is specifically earmarked for “an emerging translator of color or a translator working from an underrepresented diaspora or stateless language”; if you qualify, there’s a box you can check on the ALTA Travel Fellowship application to be considered for a Jansen Fellowship as well as in the general competition.

Attending the ALTA conference is a brilliant move if you’re considering pursuing a career in translation. You’ll meet other translators working in your language area, learn what sorts of questions other translators are wrestling with in their work and how experienced translators solve the sorts of problems you yourself might be facing in your translations, hear about new authors, and generally get inspired. There’s always an ALTA Fellows reading as well during the conference where the Fellows present their work; no other events are scheduled against this reading, so there’s always a great turnout for it, a perfect way for the translation community to get to know you and your work.

The 2018 conference, entitled Performance, Props, and Platforms, will be held in Bloomington, IN from Oct. 31 – Nov. 3, 2018. There’ll be a keynote address by playwright and translator Caridad Svich. If you’re able to attend and qualify for a travel fellowship (you’ll find requirements and application information on the ALTA website), I hope you’ll do so, and look forward to seeing you there. The deadline for travel fellowship applications is April 16, 2018, and if you’re interested in submitting a panel proposal, they’re due on the same date.

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2018 American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards Announced

Every two years, the American Academy of Arts and Letters awards a $20,000 prize to “a practitioner, scholar, or patron who has made a significant contribution to the art of literary translation.” This year’s winner of the Thornton Wilder Prize is Bill Porter, a writer who translates from Chinese under the pen name Red Pine, specializing in Taoist and Buddhist poetry and sutras. Previous winners of the Thornton Wilder Prize (which I see I’ve somehow managed not to blog before, even the year I actually attended the ceremony) are Jamey Gambrell (2016), David Hinton (2014), Michael Hofmann (2012), and Gregory Rabassa (2009).

There was another translator among this year’s AAAL awardees, too: Clare Cavanagh, who received a $10,000 Arts and Letters Award in Literature along with some equally illustrious honorees.

For the full list of 2018 prizes and recipients, visit the American Academy of Arts and Letters website. Congratulations to the translators honored for their contributions to the field!

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Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture Awards 2017-2018 Translation Prizes

The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University has been awarding the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature since 1979. This year, two translators were honored: David Boyd for his translation of Slow Boat by Hideo Furukawa (Pushkin Press, 2017) and Hiroaki Sato for his translation of The Silver Spoon: Memoir of a Boyhood in Japan by Kansuke Naka (Stone Bridge Press, 2015). The awards were presented at a ceremony at the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University. A new pair of prizes was also awarded, the Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Prize, awarded this year for a translation of “particular scholarly merit or significance” and for lifetime achievement by a translator with a particularly distinguished career. Jeffrey Angles received the former for his translation of The Book of the Dead by Orikuchi Shinobu (University of Minnesota Press), and Howard Hibbett was honored for lifetime achievement for his work as a translator of Edo period and modern Japanese literature.

Congratulations to all the translators whose work was celebrated tonight!

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French-American Foundation Translation Prize 2018 Shortlists Announced

The finalists for the French-American Foundation and Florence Gould Foundation 30th Annual Translation Prizes have just been announced. These $10,000 awards go to the translator of a book in each category (Fiction, Nonfiction) published in the U.S. during the previous calendar year in each of two categories: fiction and nonfiction.

Fiction:

Paul Eprile’s translation of Melville: A Novel by Jean Giono

New York Review Books
Edward Gauvin’s translation of Moving the Palace by Charif Majdalani

New Vessel Press
Emma Ramadan’s translation of Not One Day by Anne Garréta

Deep Vellum Publishing
Howard Curtis’s translation of The Principle by Jérôme Ferrari

Europa Editions
Sam Taylor’s translation of The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Nonfiction:

Samuel E. Martin’s translation of Bark by Georges-Didi Huberman

MIT Press
Jane Marie Todd’s translation of Far-Right Politics in Europe by Jean-Yves Camus and Nicolas Lebourg

Harvard University Press
Malcolm Debevoise’s translation of Living with Robots by Paul Dumouchel and Luisa Damiano

Harvard University Press
Jody Gladding’s translation of Red: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoreau

Princeton University Press
Alison L. Strayer’s translation of The Years by Annie Ernaux

Seven Stories Press

For more information about the prize and the shortlisted books, please visit the French-American Foundation website. The winning translations will be announced at a ceremony in May. Congratulations to all the shortlisted translators!

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2018 Man Booker International Prize Longlist Announced

It’s that Man Booker International longlist time of year, and the baker’s dozen of semi-finalists has just been announced. This is a prize for a book or short or long fiction translated into English and published in the UK in the previous year, with the generous £50,000 purse equally split between author and translator. Translationista is honored to have a book on the longlist this year in the excellent company of many esteemed colleagues. Behold the ‘Man Booker Dozen,’ listed alphabetically by author:

• Laurent Binet (France), Sam Taylor, The 7th Function of Language (Harvill Secker)

• Javier Cercas (Spain), Frank Wynne, The Impostor (MacLehose Press)

• Virginie Despentes (France), Frank Wynne, Vernon Subutex 1 (MacLehose Press)

• Jenny Erpenbeck (Germany), Susan Bernofsky, Go, Went, Gone (Portobello Books)

• Han Kang (South Korea), Deborah Smith, The White Book (Portobello Books)

• Ariana Harwicz (Argentina), Sarah Moses & Carolina Orloff, Die, My Love (Charco Press)

• László Krasznahorkai (Hungary), John Batki, Ottilie Mulzet & George Szirtes, The World Goes On (Tuskar Rock Press)

• Antonio Muñoz Molina (Spain), Camilo A. Ramirez, Like a Fading Shadow (Tuskar Rock Press)

• Christoph Ransmayr (Austria), Simon Pare, The Flying Mountain (Seagull Books)

• Ahmed Saadawi (Iraq), Jonathan Wright, Frankenstein in Baghdad (Oneworld)

• Olga Tokarczuk (Poland), Jennifer Croft, Flights (Fitzcarraldo Editions)

• Wu Ming-Yi (Taiwan), Darryl Sterk, The Stolen Bicycle (Text Publishing)

• Gabriela Ybarra (Spain), Natasha Wimmer, The Dinner Guest (Harvill Secker)

One of the many great things about this longlist is the number of women authors included on it (close to half), which I couldn’t be happier to see. This year’s judges include Lisa Appignanesi, Michael Hofmann, Hari Kunzru, Tim Martin, and Helen Oyeyemi. More information about the prize, longlist, and the books on it can be found on the Man Booker International Prize website.

So enjoy digging into the books on the longlist and start placing your bets as to which ones will also be shortlisted – we’ll find out about that on April 12. (The winner will be announced on May 22.)

Big congratulations to all who made the longlist, and especially to Frank Wynne, the translator of two books on the list!

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2018 Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award Announced

Texas is a big state, and it’s big enough to offer a prize for translators with a Texas connection (defined as having been born there or having lived in the state for two consecutive years at some point in their lives). This year’s translating Texan, recipient of the Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation of a Book, is Philip Boehm, honored for his translation of Chasing the King of Hearts (Feminist Press), by Hanna Krall. This award was announced by the Texas Institute of Letters this week. The runner-up is Shelby Vincent, translator of Heavens on Earth (Deep Vellum), by Carmen Boullosa. The Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award is presented by the Texas Institute of Letters in even-numbered years and covers works published in the previous two years. Previous recipients of the award include Marian Schwartz and David Bowles. Congratulations to this year’s honorees!

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