May 31, 2016 | Germany
This month, the German author, editor and translator Brigitte Döbert was awarded two important prizes for her translation of Die Tutoren, the monumental novel by the Serbian author Bora Ćosić, who left Serbia 1992 in protest against the regime. The 800-page cult epic tells the story of five generations and uses a vast array of literary techniques and genres, from farmer’s almanac and folk legend, to instruction manals, quotes from James Joyce, kitchen recipes and imaginary concoctions, constituting an enormous literary compendium of the Serbian language and gaining it a reputation for being hugely challenging for translators. […]
May 24, 2016 | World
On April 23, World Book Day, CEATL launched a Picture Contest ‘The Face of Translation’ to make literary translators more visible.
Amateur visual artists were called on to create sparky and clever pictures reflecting the existence and importance of literary translations and translators, their challenges and their role in literature. Any technique from photography, drawing, printmaking and painting could be used and the competition welcomed all themes related to literary translation. […]
May 24, 2016 | Netherlands
From 7 to 11 June 2016 the 47th Poetry International Festival [link] will take place in Rotterdam.
This annual festival is a renowned meeting place for all poets, translators and lovers of poetry. It is organised by the foundation Poetry International, which aims to draw attention to good poetry from all over the world, and to stimulate exchanges between poets, translators and amateurs in poetry from all countries. For this reason translation activities occupy an important place in the festival. The programme In Other Words invites professional and amateur translators to translate a number of selected poems. […]
May 24, 2016 | Italy
On 3rd April 2016 a groundbreaking document was signed between ODEI (the Italian Observatory of Independent Publishers), STRADE (the Italian Union of Translators working in the publishing industry), and the SLC-CGIL (Italian Union of Communication Workers, which STRADE is joining to represent translators). These associations signed a code of practice for a fair relationship between publishers and translators. The code provides a series of guidelines: ‘Five Points for a Fair, Legal and Transparent Translation Contract’. […]
May 17, 2016 | Catalonia, Spain
During the next CEATL AGM, which will take place from 2-4 June in Barcelona, the Spanish and Catalan translators’ associations AELC, ACEC and ACE Traductores will organise a public event.
On 3 June, literary expert Laura Borràs will interview translators Martha Tennent and Francesc Parcerisas. about literary translation between Catalan and English. Music will be provided by Borja Penalba and admission is free. […]
May 12, 2016 | World
On 23 April – World Book Day – CEATL, the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations, launched a picture contest: ‘The Face of Translation’. For this contest CEATL is calling on amateur visual artists to create sparky and clever pictures reflecting the existence and importance of literary translations and translators, their challenges, and their role in literature. Any technique from photography, drawing, printmaking and painting can be used – as well as any topic, as long as it is in some way related to literary translation. One digital picture per participant will be accepted. […]
May 11, 2016 | Poland
The Polish Literary Translators’ Association has announced that the publisher Wydawnictwo Czarne is to be awarded the first ever Jerome Lion for supporting literary translators. Their publishing activities have demonstrated an appreciation of the importance of competent translators and a respect for translators’ work at every stage of the collaboration by offering honest contracts, staying in touch throughout the editorial process, respecting the translator’s opinion on difficult or contentious issues, promptly paying fees, and giving due recognition to the input of the translator in the presentation of the final publication. […]
May 10, 2016 | Czech Republic
Among numerous events relating to foreign authors and their translators, the programme features several items on the translation of fiction and children’s literature.
On Thursday 12 May, literary agent Andrew Nurnberg will give a talk about copyright and changes in attitudes of American and British copyright holders towards the Czech and Slovak book-markets over the last 20 years. […]
May 10, 2016 | United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, fiction in translation now sells more copies than fiction originally written in English, according to research commissioned by the Man Booker International Prize. While only 3.5% of literary fiction published in 2015 was fiction in translation, these accounted for 7% of sales. Although the proportion of translated fiction was still found to be ‘extremely low’ at 1.5%, that 1.5% accounted for 5% of total fiction sales in 2015. […]
May 5, 2016 | Italy
For the sixteenth consecutive year, the Turin International Book Fair is organising a number of activities of special interest to translators, under the title AutoreInvisibile.
From Thursday 12 May to Sunday 15 May 2015, translators, publishers and writers will participate in seminars and discussions on current issues in literary translation. Other topics for discussion will be the future of the profession, particularly with regard to independent publishing, children’s literature, new translations of the classics and translation editing. […]
May 4, 2016 | Switzerland
The Cultural Department of the Canton of Valais in Switzerland has two residencies available in Rarogne for professional literary translators from Switzerland or elsewhere. During the residency the translator will work on a literary text written by an author from Valais or the Alpine arc, or a text that is related thematically to the Alps. The original text or translation has to be written in one of Switzerland’s four national languages. During their three-month stay, either in the period April-June or October-December 2017, the beneficiaries will each receive a grant of 1500 Swiss Francs per month. […]
May 3, 2016 | Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Translators’ Union and the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation for Creative Writing announce the launch of their ‘Translators’ Atelier’ for the sixth consecutive year. The project is aimed at literary translators who are still at an early stage in their professional development, but who are interested in translating literature from English to Bulgarian and from Bulgarian to English. The Translators’ Atelier takes the form of a three-day intensive training programme under the direction of leading specialists in literary translation and includes lectures and practical seminars on the translation of texts. Since 2015 it has included a poetry module alongside prose translation and a translation slam. Participants who successfully finish the Atelier will receive certificates from the Bulgarian Translators’ Union. […]
