To Be Read

The National Endowment for the Arts Literature Translation Fellowships For 2013

Since 1981, the National Endowment for the Arts has been the most reliable financial supporter for the task of translating foreign literature into English.  This is done in an effort to expand our world view.  Currently in America, only one book out of every twenty that we read originates from outside of our borders.  The NEA’s Literature Translation Fellowships bring works from fourteen countries and ten languages to readers in the United States.

Each of the sixteen fellowships for 2013 will award $12,500 to aid in the translation of a selected manuscript into English.  Specifically, the Endowment’s panel of experts charges its fellows with the task of making the translation ” not only accessible but familiar.”   The selected works include both high quality poetry and prose , and are relevant to such topics as current trends in the arts, technology, and politics.

 “These translation grants will bring great literature to wider audiences, inspire a broader awareness of world cultures, and support high caliber literary professionals,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “Under the leadership of our Literature Director Ira Silverberg, the NEA continues to support the vibrant ecosystem of literature in this country.”

The 2013 NEA Translation Fellows are:

• Dan Bellm (French) for Song of the Dead, a volume of poetry by Pierre Reverdy
• Daniel Brunet (German) for experimental plays by playwright Dea Loher
• Wendy Burk (Spanish) for Tedi López Mills’ eighth book of poems, Against the Current
• Sara E. Cooper (Spanish) for the novel, The Bleeding Wound, by Cuban writer Mirta Yáñez
• Daniel Coudriet (Spanish) for Argentinean writer Lila Zemborain’s collection of poems, Torn
• Deborah Garfinkle (Czech) for Worm-Eaten Time, a collection of poems by Pavel Šrut
• Christian Hawkey (German) for Ilse Aichinger’s collection of short fiction,Bad Words  (This project is a collaboration with poet Uljana Wolf.)
• Lynne Lawner (Italian) for poems by Giorgio Orelli
• Rika Lesser (Swedish) for Elisabeth Rynell’s novel, Hohaj
• Sylvia Lichun Lin (Chinese) for The Lost Garden, a novel by Taiwanese author Li Ang
• Samuel Perry (Japanese) for Sata Ineko’s novel, Crimson
• John G. Peters (Japanese) for Journey, a collection of poetry by Takamura Kôtarô
• Matt Reeck (Urdu) for Paigham Afaqui’s novel, The House
• Katherine Silver (Spanish) for three works of contemporary fiction by the late Mexican writer Daniel Sada
• Johanna Warren (Spanish) for short fiction by contemporary Salvadoran author, Claudia Hernández
• Charles Waugh (Vietnamese) for an anthology of short fiction by young Vietnamese writers, New Voices from Vietnam (This project is a collaboration with Nguyen Lien, professor emeritus at Vietnam National University.)

Please see the complete descriptions of each funded project.

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