All things translation—December at CAT
December happenings at the Center for the Art of Translation.
Ah yes, the close of a year. 2024 has been a year of momentous change—from our first live multimedia performance (partnering with Cuentero Productions on an adaptation of Mónica Ojeda’s short story “Soroche” from Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror) to our continued success with our Poetry Inside Out Teaching Fellows, who were featured for the first time in an academic journal. Two Lines Press celebrated the nomination of Layla Martínez’s Woodworm for the National Book Award in Tranlated Literature(opens in a new tab) and two Indie Next Picks (Woodworm and Pirkko Saisio’s Lowest Common Denominator). And we brought together authors and translators to celebrate literature, language, and community at in-person and virtual events all year long.
This year also marked a full year of military aggression in Gaza, and the death of thousands of writers and activists in various conflicts abroad. In this uncertain time, we confirm our commitment to you, and, in our humble way, to building a more just world. In March, we committed to highlighting suppressed voices in translation, and are hard at work to keep our promises. Next year, we’ll be releasing new Poetry Inside Out poetry lessons in Arabic and will add to our collection of in-school lessons featuring poems by immigrants detained on San Francisco’s Angel Island.
The work of CAT and Two Lines Press is rooted in community. We want to highlight innovative and powerful voices from around the world through the art of translation and make sure that stories from all walks of life are told and remembered. In the same way we nurture and care for the authors and translators we partner with on our books, events, and education program, we appreciate the care that you in our community show for us.
We are ending the year with so much gratitude for our CAT community. With your support, Two Lines Press piloted a new program to offer subsidies to emerging translators, removing barriers to publication and helping launch careers. We’ve extended the length of our Poetry Inside Out Teaching Fellowship so that the Fellows can engage in an additional year of translation research. The 2024 Day of Translation(opens in a new tab) included a packed schedule of dynamic panels and conversations featuring a keynote from author, translator, and National Book Award-winner Don Mee Choi.
Your donation is vital to CAT’s work of amplifying global literary voices, presenting events that matter, nurturing the work of translators, and inspiring the next generation of readers and writers. Please consider a year-end gift to sustain this vital, vibrant community. Read below for different happenings as we close out the year—and as always, be well!
From now until December 18, you’re in luck! All Two Lines Press(opens in a new tab) titles are 30% off on our website—plus free shipping on all orders over $50. Read up on all your favorite works in translation, or start prepping your stocking stuffers early this holiday season.
Whether it’s bone-chilling horror from Latin America, a queer coming-of-age story from one of Finland’s premier authors, or a dystopian novel filled with the plot twists of gentrification and generational obligation—there’s something for everyone available at our online shop(opens in a new tab).
Additionally, Two Lines Press is still open for submissions! The press has extended the calls for translated ghost stories and general submissions. Read more here!
There are many reasons you might be looking for a list of amazing books:
- You’re looking for gifts for all your friends and family.
- You’re looking for gifts for yourself to explore worlds outside your own.
- You look forward to the CAT staff’s annual holiday gift guide.
Regardless of reason—list lovers rejoice! We asked our colleagues about books that knocked their socks off in 2024, and compiled them all for your pleasure. We encourage you to shop small, and have included buying links in partnership with some of our favorite bookstore event hosts from this past year.
- Full Stop, an online journal of literary and cultural criticism established in 2011, invites applications for two Full Stop Editorial Fellows(opens in a new tab). These six-month fellowships invite early-career writers or editors to independently envision, commission, and edit an issue of the Full Stop Quarterly.
- Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 National Book Awards(opens in a new tab), including the Translated Literature winners, author Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King, for Taiwan Travelogue(opens in a new tab)!
- Claire Allfree of The Telegraph warns of the oncoming cultural disaster(opens in a new tab) that could happen if artificial intelligence takes over the literary translation industry.
- ALTA is currently conducting a search for their new Executive Director(opens in a new tab)!
Giovanna Lomanto is a poet and essayist with a tendency to play the same song on repeat until she has memorized every last note. She received her BA in English at U.C. Berkeley and finished her MFA at NYU, during which time she published two poetry collections and two mixed media chapbooks.
