May 2020 translation news roundup
Highlights of news from translation, publishing, and arts education that you may have missed in May.
In case you missed it, we hosted virtual conversations with On Lighthouses author Jazmina Barrera in May! The first, hosted by Chicago’s Pilsen Community Books, was a conversation with Barrera and author Eula Biss(opens in a new tab).
The second event, hosted by Point Reyes Books and the Point Reyes National Seashore Association, featured a talk with Barrera and author and filmmaker Philip Hoare(opens in a new tab).
We also featured an online conversation with That We May Live contributors Dorothy Tse and translator Natascha Bruce(opens in a new tab).
Prizes
Daša Drndić’s EEG, translated from Croatian by Celia Hawkesworth won the 2020 Best Translated Book Award(opens in a new tab) for Fiction. Etel Adnan’s Time, translated from French by Sarah Riggs, won the award for Poetry.
Before the BTBA awards ceremony the shortlisted translators joined a virtual reading from the nominated books(opens in a new tab), including Beyond Babylon translator and finalist Aaron Robertson.
News
Donors to our emergency fundraiser gave more than $33,000 to support international authors, translators, and independent bookstores impacted by the current crisis!
As of early May, startup website Bookshop.org had already raised more than $1m for indie bookstores(opens in a new tab).
The 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair(opens in a new tab) organizers vow that the event will take place as planned in October.
Translation publisher Archipelago Books is hosting an online art auction to support its Elsewhere Editions children’s books imprint(opens in a new tab).
Reading List
Bookseller Justin Walls thinks the future of bookselling is already here.
On Lighthouses was a staff pick in the Paris Review(opens in a new tab) and featured as an excerpt online(opens in a new tab).
And Ms. magazine included On Lighthouses in its May 2020 list of reads for the rest of us(opens in a new tab).
Deep Vellum Books created an On Lighthouses-inspired playlist(opens in a new tab) for its online book club.
A list of virtual literary translation events(opens in a new tab) happening this summer.
Bookstores could be looking at a post-lockdown boom(opens in a new tab).
Can words help heal a fractured nation? (opens in a new tab)Visiting the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Why teachers, not reformers, should “reimagine education(opens in a new tab)” in the age of the coronavirus and online learning.
We can use this summer to test-drive ideas for safely reopening schools(opens in a new tab).
