November 2023 translation news roundup
Our monthly roundup of translation and publishing news, plus updates in literature and arts education you may have missed!
Prizes
Author Stênio Gardel and translator Bruna Dantas Lobato won the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature(opens in a new tab) for The Words That Remain.
The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) announced the winners of the 25th National Translation Awards(opens in a new tab) on November 11. Thuân’s Chinatown, translated from Vietnamese by Nguyễn An Lý, won the award for Prose, and Iman Mersal’s Threshold, translated from Arabic by Robyn Creswell, won the award for Poetry.
Zoë Perry won the 2023 Cercador Prize(opens in a new tab) for her translation from Portuguese of Ana Paula Maia’s Of Cattle and Men.
Eight translated titles were shortlisted for the 2023 Warwick Prize for Women in Translati(opens in a new tab)on, featuring translations from China, Denmark, Egypt, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, and Yemen.
The U.K.’s Society of Authors announced the shortlists for the 2023 Translation Prizes(opens in a new tab), among them the Bernard Shaw Prize for translations from Swedish, the Goethe-Institut Award for translations from German, the inaugural Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize for a translation from Japanese, the Premio Valle Inclán for Spanish translation, the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for translations from Arabic, the Schlegel–Tieck Prize for translations from German, the Scott Moncrieff Prize for French translations, and the TA First Translation Prize for a debut translation into English published in the U.K. or Ireland. The more than 50 titles include translations from ten languages.
News
Applications are open until February 1 for the 2024 Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference(opens in a new tab), a week-long session offering training and community to beginning and experienced translators.
The Economist notes that small presses are outclassing the bigger publishers and winning major literary prizes.(opens in a new tab)
The number of U.S. college students studying a foreign language dropped 30% between 2009 and 2021(opens in a new tab).
The Two Lines Press holiday sale is on until December 31! 30% off all books, free shipping on order of $50 or more, and get a free tote with your purchase of three or more books.
Recommended Reads
“Translation is so much about compromise, it feels like a very healthy training ground for a person who wants to be comfortable and comforting in the world.” The Oxonian Review interviews International Booker Prize-winning translator Jennifer Croft.(opens in a new tab)
Gary Lovely, store manager of Prologue Bookshop in Columbus, Ohio, shares his translation picks of the year.
ALA Booklist(opens in a new tab) recommends Johannes Anyuru’s They Will Drown in Their Mothers’ Tears (translated from Swedish by Saskia Vogel) and Mohamed Kheir’s Slipping (translated from Arabic by Robin Moger) on this list of science fiction and surrealism in translation.
“This eerie selection of exciting contemporary voices is sure to keep readers up at night.” Publishers Weekly reviews Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror(opens in a new tab), the next Calico title, forthcoming in March 2024.
Shelbi Polk interviews Cross-Stitch author Jazmina Barrera on friendships, being translated, and the history of embroidery in Shondaland(opens in a new tab).
Erin Branagan has a lifelong interest in languages, literature, and the interrelation of countries and cultures. She speaks Spanish, French, and Japanese and has lived and traveled extensively outside the U.S.
