EU Lit Prize 2012

Click here to read a new article (Publishing Perspectives, June 20) on the European Union’s annual Literature Prize, as well as thoughtful conversation about the difficulty of getting published in a “big” language.

The EU’s Literature Prize was developed to facilitate cultural and artistic exchange across Europe’s many linguistic and national borders. However, as the writers in this article point out, there are a few factors that complicate the enactment of such a worthy goal.

One of the issues that the article explores in depth is the problem of getting translated into a “big” language – English, German, Spanish, or French – from a “small” language. As an English-speaker, I never would’ve imagined the kinds of publication challenges faced by “small”-language writers.

After reading the article, I had to wonder: even in languages, does a certain hierarchy exist? When your native language is spoken in an area the size of Connecticut, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to reach a wider audience. What can we do to support authors from smaller countries and to help get their works translated? It’s a question that merits discussion, in my opinion.