News from our members

Publication of the ‘Report on the economic value of book translation’ in Spain

ACE Traductores (http://ace-traductores NULL.org/) (Spain) has presented a Report on the economic value of book translation, prepared by the consulting agency AFI and financed by the Ministry of Culture and CEDRO, the main Spanish Reproduction Rights Centre.

Its main objective was to “check, get to know and quantify the economic value of book translation in Spain, taking into account not only the publishing figures but also the total amount of sales, whose impact, in the absence of statistics, is presumably higher”. →

Literary Translators into Spanish: Joining objectives on both sides of the Atlantic

Over recent months several national associations of literary translators into Spanish —from Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Spain— have combined efforts to improve the working conditions of their Latin American members, as well as to contribute to the prestige of the profession and the development of culture by means of the exchange of information, experience and knowledge, and also to promote common training programmes. →

Swedish model contract for translators terminated, new strategies in the making

The Swedish Writers’ Union (http://www NULL.forfattarforbundet NULL.se/) and the Swedish Publishers’ Association agreed on a collective Model Contract for translators several decades ago. The contract has been re-negotiated a few times, but it has generally been respected and practiced in almost all cases where publishers have commissioned literary translations, whether the translator or the publisher have been members of the organizations that signed the contract or not. →

Polish award for publishers supporting literary translators goes to Wydawnictwo Książkowe Klimaty

The Polish Literary Translators’ Association (http://www NULL.stl NULL.org NULL.pl/) has announced that the publisher Wydawnictwo Książkowe Klimaty has been awarded the second Jerome Lion, an award for publishers supporting literary translators.

From the very beginning, this young publisher has shown great awareness of the importance of a literary translator’s work. →

The first Jerome’s Lion Award in Hungary went to publishers Magvető and Typotex

Saint Jerome was a church scholar and Bible translator, originator of the Vulgata, the first Latin translation that our present bible translations are based on. According to fable he once pulled a thorn from a lion’s paw, whereby the animal became his faithful pet.

Publisher of one of the award winning publishing houses, Magvető

By awarding the Jerome’s Lion, the Association of Hungarian Literary Translators (MEGY (http://www NULL.muforditok NULL.hu/)) is following the footsteps of the Polish Literary Translators Association in adapting a best practice model to the Hungarian publishing market. →

The Society of Authors Translation Prizes were announced on 22 February in an event at the British Library

The £3000 Saif Ghobash Prize for Translation from the Arabic was won by Jonathan Wright for his translation The Bamboo Stalk by the Kuwaiti writer Saud Alsanousi.

The John Florio Prize of £2000 for Translation from the Italian went to Jamie McKendrick for his translation Archipelago by the Sardinian poet Antonella Anedda. →

White paper on literary translation in digital format in Spain

The Spanish association ACE Traductores (http://www NULL.ace-traductores NULL.org/) has recently published a ‘white paper’ on book translators’ rights as authors in the digital sector.

Part of the project was already presented in 2010, and now ACE Traductores has published an addendum regarding digital publishing. It compiles the results of a survey completed by translators, with a sociological interpretation and a legal analysis. →

Italian associations launch ‘Table of Translators’

On 20 January 2017 a new initiative called TableT – The Table of Translators was launched in Milan, at Laboratorio Formentini (http://www NULL.laboratorioformentini NULL.it/), by translators’ associations AITI (http://www NULL.aiti NULL.org/) and STradE (http://www NULL.traduttoristrade NULL.it/). The tables, open to all translators, cover three different areas – from all languages into Italian, from a specific language into and out of Italian and tables with different themes. →

Basque translation workshop resulted in two digital publications

From 20 to 22 June 2016, the Basque translators’ association EIZIE (http://www NULL.eizie NULL.eus/) organised the ‘Translating Exile’ workshop in Donostia/San Sebastian. Six translators participated in the workshop, which was part of the New Translators’ (http://www NULL.eizie NULL.eus/en/Jarduerak/itzultzaile_berriak) programme (for a European audience). Their work has led to two digital publications, produced by EIZIE. →

Latest from Ireland: Literary correspondent receives award from translators and publishing house receives major funding for translations

The Irish Translators’ and Interpreters’ Association (ITIA (http://www NULL.translatorsassociation NULL.ie/)) awarded honorary membership to Eileen Battersby (http://www NULL.irishtimes NULL.com/profile/eileen-battersby-7 NULL.1010655), literary correspondent of the Irish Times, at the Irish Writers’ Centre on Friday 2 December. Ms Battersby was recognised for her championing of fiction in translation, raising awareness of translated novels and of translation in general, which plays such an important role in ensuring access to literature in other languages. →

Slovenian Jerman prize goes to Alenka Mercina

The German > Slovenian translator Alenka Mercina won the second edition of the Jerman prize (which is awarded for the translation of a work in the humanities and social sciences) for Govorica tretjega rajha: Filologova beležnica, her translation of LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii by the author Victor Klemperer.

The award ceremony was held at the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators (http://www NULL.dskp-drustvo NULL.si/) on Tuesday, 8 November 2016. →

The 2016 Sovre Prize goes to the Russian > Slovenian translator Lijana Dejak

The Slovenian Association of Literary Translators (http://www NULL.dskp-drustvo NULL.si/) has awarded the 2016 Sovre Prize to the famous Slovenian translator Lijana Dejak for her translation of the novel Laurus by the Russian author Jevgenij Vodolazkin. The translation was published by Cankarjeva založba in 2015.

Lijana Dejak

The Sovre Prize, named after Anton Sovre (1885-1963), a Slovenian philologist and translator, is Slovenia’s main award for literary translations. →

Slovenian Prize for Young Translator of the Year awarded to Tanja Petrič and Diana Pungeršič

The 2016 Radojka Vrančič Prizes were awarded by the Slovenian Association of Literary Translators (http://www NULL.dskp-drustvo NULL.si/) on the Writers’ Stand at the 31st Slovenian Book Fair, on 24th November 2016.

Tanja Petrič received the award for Smrt zaradi muz, a collection of poems by the Austrian poet Friederike Mayröcker, published Mladinska knjiga in their Nova lirika collection in 2015. →

Netherlands Translate!

Translation lovers in the Netherlands can enjoy the 7th edition of the annual ‘Nederland vertaalt (http://verstegenstigter NULL.nl/nv/vertaalwedstrijd)‘ (Netherlands Translate) challenge. Translators both professional and amateur have until 24th January 2017 to take on texts in five languages and translate them into Dutch.

These pieces are not the easiest: the poem ‘Ecce Puer’ by the Irish writer James Joyce (English), ‘Il n’y a pas d’amour heureux’ by Louis Aragon (French), ‘Auf was nur einmal ist’ by Peter Rühmkorf (German) and ‘Pequeño Vals Vienés’ by Federico García Lorca (Spanish). →

Grand Prize for Literary Translation 2016 awarded by the APT and the SPA

The APT (http://www NULL.apt NULL.pt/) (Associação Portuguesa de Tradutores) and the SPA (https://www NULL.spautores NULL.pt/) (Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores) had the honour of awarding the Grand Prize for Literary Translation 2016 at a ceremony on 10th November 2016.

The joint winners of the prize were Rui Carvalho Homem for his translation of Ricardo III (Richard III by William Shakespeare) and Rui Pires Cabral for his translation of Na Margem (En la orilla by the Spanish writer Rafael Chirbes). →

Creation of a contract-law dispute arbitration board in the Netherlands

A contract-law dispute arbitration board (http://www NULL.vvl NULL.nu/vvl/site/article/item/747/-Geschillencommissie-Auteurscontractenrecht-van-start-op-1-oktober-2016-/nl) was established in the Netherlands on 1st October 2016. Its role is to arbitrate disputes regarding the interpretation of contract law between authors and the parties exploiting their works. The procedure will be a simple one, based upon the law pertaining to authors’ rights (http://www NULL.hendriks-james NULL.nl/auteurswet/). →

Babel Bookshops, new Spanish campaign for the visibility of translators

On 29, 30 September and 1 October 2016, at several bookshops in different Spanish cities, ACE Traductores (http://www NULL.ace-traductores NULL.org/) celebrated the first gatherings of a new campaign to promote the collaboration of booksellers and translators: Librerías de Babel (http://www NULL.ace-traductores NULL.org/node/790). The aim of the campaign is to improve the visibility of translators among the readership. →

French translators sent open letter to juries of literary prizes

The Association of Literary Ttranslators of France (ATLF (http://www NULL.atlf NULL.org/)) has noticed many times that the names of the translators of award winning foreign books weren’t mentioned in press releases issued by the juries. A negation of their work.

To protest against this situation ATLF published an open letter in the magazine Livres Hebdo, addressed to juries of literary awards in the hope that the translators’ voice will at last be heard. →

Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize for 2016 for the translation of non-fiction literature awarded to Oda Myran Winsnes

Oda Myran Winsnes has been awarded the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize for 2016 for her Norwegian translation of Samar Yazbek’s The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria. The prize, which is awarded each year by the Norwegian Booksellers’ Association (http://www NULL.bokhandlerforeningen NULL.no/) and the Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translators Association (http://www NULL.nffo NULL.no/)(NFF), goes to a newly established translator of non-fiction who has produced a high quality translation of a new work of non-fiction literature. →

NORLA’s Translator’s Award 2016 goes to Nargis Shinkarenko

The Russian translator Nargis Shinkarenko is the recipient of NORLA’s 2016 Translator’s Award for her translations of non-fiction literature from Norwegian into Russian. The announcement was made on 29 September in Oslo, during the celebration of International Translation Day and the feast of St. Jerome. The award, now in its 11th year, is given annually and on an alternating basis to talented translators of fiction and non-fiction and is intended as a measure to encourage the promotion of Norwegian literature. →

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