Cliff Becker prize, and poetry translation links

For anyone with an unpublished book-length manuscript of translated poetry in their drawer, the Cliff Becker prize might be just the ticket... A chance to see your work published in a bilingual anthology, and generally a very nice-looking initiative.

As a nice bonus, see this piece from Words Without Borders on a previously unpublished translation of the Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Mejía Sánchez by William Carlos Williams.

The PEN Translation Slams are a nice introduction to the challenges of poetry translation.

And not to forget the excellent work of the Poetry Translation Centre in London, and the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation, whose journal Poetry recently published a lovely special issue on translation which included translators' notes on the poems. See e.g. Conor O'Callaghan on his translation of a famous poem by Lorca...

Translation readings in London and Chichester

I was delighted to hear that Juan Pablo Villalobos' Down the Rabbit Hole had been longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. It is not only his first novel but it is also one of the first publications of the literary translation co-operative Andotherstories and it is the first translation ever to be longlisted for the prize. Lots of firsts! :) This series of readings may interest our readers on the London-Portsmouth corridor...

And Other Stories nos. 1 and 2 launch
 
Wednesday 17 August, 6.30pm.
The European Bookshop, 5 Warwick Street, London W1B 5LU

At the European Bookshop, Clemens Meyer and Juan Pablo Villalobos will talk about their work and read some carefully selected extracts from All The Lights and Down the Rabbit Hole, with their translators Katy Derbyshire and Rosalind Harvey.

Followed by a Q&A session and the vital drinks reception.
Free, booking essential. Please email the European Bookshop: sms at esb.co.uk

Matinée reception – Clemens Meyer
 
Thursday 18 August, 2 - 4pm, reading starts at 2.30pm.

Ritter/Zamet, 80a Ashfield Street, London E1 2BJ
Rigo Schmidt - recent paintings (a Leipzig-based painter)
+ Clemens Meyer reading from All the Lights

Clemens Meyer in conversation with the writer and critic Stuart Evers and his translator Katy Derbyshire
 
Thursday 18th August, 6:30pm
34 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8DZ
 
A discussion to mark the launch of Clemens Meyer’s first and long-awaited book in English, All the Lights. Clemens Meyer will be in conversation with Stuart Evers, a critic and author of Ten Stories about Smoking, and with Katy Derbyshire, translator of All the Lights and a number of other contemporary German works of fiction.
Followed by a drinks reception.

Free, booking essential. Email jimenagorraez at gmail.com
 
Juan Pablo Villalobos on his novel and Mexican Literature
Thursday 18th August, 6pm. Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

With thanks for the support for events from the German Embassy and the Mexican Embassy in the UK; these translations supported by the Goethe-Institut and Spanish Ministry of Culture.

interview etc. on literary translation publishing

Permit me to recommend this great interview with Michael Reynolds, editor-in-chief of Europa Editions, who has very sensible things to say about translated literature and the publishing of same. Europa Editions, the US arm of the Italian publisher e/o, has published some of the most exciting translated fiction of the last few years, including my much-loved old favourite Stefano Benni.

I also hear on the interwebs that Amazon are moving into the translation publishing business (!). According to this press release, Amazon's 'international customers have made [them] aware of exciting established and emerging voices from other cultures and countries that have not been translated for English-language readers', a gap in the market which Amazon are eager to address.

So I guess that's two places to send that unpublished translation ms... Good luck to both their houses.

Literary translation events in Bristol

There's a very interesting-looking lecture and colloquium on in Bristol in a couple of weeks which may appeal to anyone interested in literature, including classical literature. For Portsmouth DL students it also may be of interest to those of you taking the Translating History unit. As far as I know the events are free of charge and open to all.

Translation:
Plenary lecture and colloquium

School of Modern Languages; Department of Drama; BIRTHA; Bristol Institute for the study of Greece, Rome and the Classical Tradition; AHRC Penguin Archive Project

Tuesday 8 December

BIRTHA plenary lecture
BIRTHA Distinguished Lecturer Scheme award
Lecture Theatre 1, School of Humanities, 11 Woodland Road

17.15 – 18.15 Peter France – ‘Why retranslate?’

Peter France is editor of the Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation (2000) and the Oxford History of Literary Translation in English (2005-, 5 vols), both of which are seminal contributions to translation studies. He has translated extensively from French and Russian and has, in particular, published several volumes of poetry by the Chuvash poet, Gennady Aygi.

Peter France is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His exceptional contribution to European literature and the international literary scene has also been recognised by award of Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour and his election as a Foreign Member if the Chuvash National Academy.

18.15 Reception

Wednesday 9 December

Colloquium and performance
Wickham Theatre, Drama Department, Cantock’s Close

10.00 – 10.30 Registration

10.30 – 12.20 Session 1
Chair: John Lyon

10.30 – 10.50 Sian Reynolds – ‘Adventures in the book trade: translators and their publishers’

10.50 – 11.10 Robert Crowe – ‘Translating Titles in Penguin Classics’

11.10 – 11.50 Tom Boll – ‘”Discussing Poems into English”: Penguin and César Vallejo’

11.50 – 12.20 Response and discussion

12.20 – 13.30 Lunch

13.30 – 15.15 Session 2
Chair: Neville Morley

13.30 – 13.50 Richard Mansell – ‘From China to Spain: the long way round’

13.50 – 14.10 Genevieve Lively – 'Translation as Transformation: Tales from Ovid'

14.10 – 14.30 Mark Thompson – ‘The Other Side of Globalisation’

14.30 – 15.15 Response and discussion

15.15 – 15.45 Break

15.45 Grand-Guignol performance
Introduction: Katja Krebs