A Hiatus

I'm not blogging this week, as you may have noticed. That's because I'm taking part in the international translators' programme at the Literary Colloquium Berlin. This year there are 36 translators from 27 countries, ranging from Thailand to Finland, and we've been blasted morning, noon and night with information on German-language literature, readings, informal discussion sessions and even less formal meals and drinks with writers. If you translate out of German, I can't encourage you enough to apply next year. I've been lucky enough to take part a few times because I live in Berlin, and it's always been an inspiring event that leaves me physically exhausted but mentally raring to go.

Tomorrow we're all off to the Leipzig Book Fair. If you're there too you could watch me nursing my hangover on this panel all about the translators' programme and German-language literature around the world. It's at 10.30 on Friday morning, so don't expect rocket science.

As ever, I can't wait for the book fair. Leipzig for me is perfect - a book fair with a bare minimum of business meetings and maximum literary input. In fact I've been blowing Leipzig's trumpet for so long and so loudly that I run into more and more people I know every time I go there. Ten zillion readings in a smallish, friendly city, parties where you don't even have to gatecrash, a big glittery book prize announcement everyone can watch - and kids dressed up as Japanese killer princesses.

Judith Hermann and Matthias Politycki Longlisted for Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

Today is International Women's Day. The fifteen titles on the longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize include two books written by women. Women do, however, make up two thirds of the translators. Two out of five judges are women. Michael Orthofer of the Complete Review has commented that men are translated more often than women, but that it's women who tend to do the translating. These figures would appear to back that up.

Anyway, enough gloom and doom, for one of those women writers is German and she is the lovely Judith Hermann, with her book of interlocking stories called Alice, translated by Margot Bettauer Dembo. And I like Judith Hermann, she's cool and writes interesting stuff.

And another of the writers is another German and he is Matthias Politycki, for Next World Novella, translated by Anthea Bell. You can read my review here. I've never met him so I don't know if I like him but I know somebody who lives down his road.

My fingers are crossed for all four. Perhaps I can cheer myself up by seeing the list as a confirmation of women's leading role in bringing international literature into English, while simultaneously avoiding midwifery metaphors.

Go-Ahead for Erika Fuchs Museum

Erika Fuchs was probably the most influential translator in postwar Germany - she edited and translated the Disney comic Micky-Maus for many years, introducing a characteristic style that made a huge impression on colloquial German. Fuchs died in 2005, and now the local council of Schwarzenbach an der Saale has given the green light for the Erika-Fuchs-Haus, a museum of her legacy.

I'm not aware of any other museums dedicated to translators, and this one looks like it'll be an amazing experience. I downloaded the design concept from behind the previous link, and am now rather excited. As well as rooms focusing at the history of comics, the Donald Duck universe, Erika Fuchs herself and a comic library, one of the largest spaces will look at translating comics. I pretty much fell in love with it when I spotted the "onomatopoeic cabinet" but there's all manner of fun in store, with a chance for visitors to try their hand at comic translation, games such as an alliteration competition and seats in the shape of words invented by Erika Fuchs.

Building work starts in the summer, according to the dpa report.

German Embassy Award for Translators To Katy Derbyshire

Ahem. Having encouraged you all to enter the competition, I have unceremoniously scooped the prize for myself. Sorry guys.

But I'm truly excited and honoured to have been chosen as the winner of this year's German Embassy Award for Translators. The runner-up is Helen MacCormac.

I get to spend a month at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin on the shores of the beautiful Wannsee and to attend the Leipzig Book Fair. I'd like to thank my mum and dad and my daughter and all the judges.

Probably my favourite part of this slightly euphoric post is the combination of tags.

Where Is The D'oh! Button?

Admirably, The Guardian has published a translation of Günter Grass' poem in memory of his editor, the translator Helmut Frielinghaus. Unfortunately, they have failed to credit the translator.

Update: The print edition does actually credit the translator - it is the hugely talented Breon Mitchell.

UK Translation Summer Schools

Who wants to laze on a beach when you could spend your summer working on your literary translation skills? And this year there are two different summer schools on offer.

The first is in London at Birkbeck College from 9-13 July and costs £400 or £250 for students. There are courses for English native speakers working out of Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – and an editing skills course for all. There will also be games, a competition, the opportunity to meet publishers, and guest lectures and discussions. Bursaries are available. There's also an online programme for free, which looks very interesting. The German group will be led by the heavyweight translator Shaun "Big Daddy" Whiteside, who is a top geezer. All under the very catchy title of Use Your Language, Use Your English.

The other course is at the British Centre for Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, from 22-27 July. Workshops are run on translating from Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Norwegian and Spanish, in this case working with a writer-in-residence. Plus plenary sessions, readings, discussions and editing sessions with visiting publishers. The week costs £500 including accommodation and lavish amounts of food, or £150 for tuition and lunch only. The German writer-in-residence will be Nino Haratischwili and the workshop leader will be me.

BTBA 2012 Longlist

They just announced the 25 titles longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award. I'm delighted to see three German books among them, including Peter Stamm's Seven Years, translated by Michael Hofmann. I'm even more delighted to see my friends Thomas Pletzinger and (top translator) Ross Benjamin on the list for their book Funeral for a Dog. And to be perfectly honest, I'm over the moon to find Inka Parei's wonderful, wonderful novel The Shadow-Boxing Woman there, which I translated.

Here's what they say:

February 28, 2012—The 25-title fiction longlist for the 2012 Best Translated Book Awards was announced this afternoon. This is the fifth year for the BTBA, which launched in 2007 as a way of highlighting the best works of international literature published in the U.S. in the previous year.
Featuring authors from 14 countries writing in 12 languages, this year’s fiction longlist illustrates the prize’s dedication to literary diversity, ranging from works by established and classic authors, such as Moacyr Scliar’s Kafka’s Leopards and Imre Kertesz’s Fiasco, to works by emerging voices, like Johan Harstad’s Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?, and Inka Parei’s The Shadow-Boxing Woman.
The longlist also includes an eclectic mix of translators, from Steve Dolph—whose translation of Juan José Saer’s Scars is his second full-length publication—to world-renowned translators Bill Johnston—who has two entries on this list, Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski and In Red by Magdalena Tulli. As in years past, the list is dominated by smaller independent publishers, such as Dedalus, Seagull Books, Melville House, and Archipelago Books, although a number of larger houses—like W.W. Norton, Knopf, and Bloomsbury—are also represented.

The shortlist will be out on 10 April, but up to then make sure you go to Three Percent regularly for biased and unprofessional hymns in praise of all the longlisted books.