Lost in Translation Reading Challenge

participant speak: words without borders

"Few literatures have truly prospered in isolation from the world. English-speaking culture in general and American culture in particular has long benefited from cross-pollination with other worlds and languages. Thus it is an especially dangerous imbalance when, today, 50% of all the books in translation now published worldwide are translated from English, but less than 3% are translated into English."

The lovely Lena of Save Ophelia emailed me this week to direct us all to this fantastic resource - Words Without Borders, an academia-based advocacy group for the consumption of literary works in translation. Their goals are achieved through a number of different avenues including the publication of a group blog that just featured staff favorites in translation. Have a look at the list, and then (as I did), spend a whole lot of time going through the rest of their info. Thanks for the treasure trove, Lena!

participant speak: vassily@1330v on rochester list

 

Vasilly at 1330v wrote in this week to suggest we all check out Three Percent, a resource for international literature at the University of Rochester. The most recent post on the site contains their nominations for the best translated book of 2008 of which the winner will be announced in January. Great inspirations here so check it out. Thanks Vasilly!

How did they pick them? 

"In terms of criteria, we only considered original titles published (or released) in the U.S. in 2008. No retranslations, no reprints, no paperbacks of previously published hardcovers were eligible. And what we’re looking for is the best translated book, not just the best translation. Speaking for all the judges, we believe that a great translated book is a combination of a great original and a great translation, and as such, we’d like to honor the book as a book, as a collaborative effort between author, translator, editor, and publisher."