5 January 11 | Chad W. Post

I’ve been meaning to post this for a month now . . . At least there’s still some time before the March deadline:

THE 2011 SUSAN SONTAG PRIZE FOR TRANSLATION

$5,000 grant for a literary translation from Italian into English: PLEASE POST & DISTRIBUTE

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline is March 1, 2011.

This $5,000 grant will be awarded to a proposed work of literary translation from Italian into English and is open to anyone under the age of 30. The translation must fall under the category of fiction or letters, and the applicant will propose his or her own translation project. The project should be manageable for a five-month period of work, as the grant will be awarded in May 2011, and the translation must be completed by October 2011.

Acceptable proposals include a novella, a play, a collection of short stories or poems, or a collection of letters that have literary import. Preference will be given to works that have not been previously translated. (Previously translated works will be considered, however applicants should include an explanation for why they are proposing a new translation.) Applicants wishing to translate significantly longer works should contact the Foundation before sending in their applications so that supplementary materials can be included. The prizewinner will be notified on May 13, 2011 and results will be announced online at www.susansontag.org.

The recipient will be expected to participate in symposia on literary translation with established writers and translators, as well as public readings of their work once the translation has been completed.

Application Requirements (Please download the official application online..) All applications must include three copies of the following:

• Application Cover Sheet (available online)
• Personal Statement (2 pages maximum) explaining your interest and background in literature and the source language (Italian)
• Project proposal (2 pages maximum) outlining the work and describing its importance
• 5 page sample translation of the proposed work from the source language into English
• The same passage in the original language
• A bio-bibliography of the author (including information on previous translations of his or her work into English)
• One academic letter of recommendation
• Official transcript from your current or most recent academic institution

All applications must be submitted via regular mail to the Foundation address:

Susan Sontag Foundation
76 Franklin St. #3
NY, NY 10013

All application materials must be received by March 1, 2011.

The fine print: Applicants must be under the age of 30 on the date the prizewinner will be announced: May 13, 2011. By submitting work to the Susan Sontag Foundation, the applicant acknowledges the right of the Foundation to use the accepted work in its publications, on its website, and for educational and promotional purposes related to the Foundation. Please note that application materials cannot be returned to applicants.


Comments are disabled for this article.
....
Basti
Basti by Intizar Husain
Reviewed by Rachael Daum

The Urdu word basti refers to any space, intimate to worldly, and is often translated as “common place” or “a gathering place.” This book by Intizar Husain, who is widely regarded as one of the most important living Pakistani writers,. . .

Read More >

The Whispering Muse
The Whispering Muse by Sjón
Reviewed by Vincent Francone

The Whispering Muse, one of three books by Icelandic writer Sjón just published in North America, is nothing if not inventive. Stories within stories, shifting narration, leaps in time, and characters who transform from men to birds and back again—you’ve. . .

Read More >

Mundo Cruel by Luis Negrón
Mundo Cruel by Luis Negrón by Luis Negrón
Reviewed by Camila Santos

Luis Negrón’s debut collection Mundo Cruel is a journey through Puerto Rico’s gay world. Published in 2010, the book is already in its fifth Spanish edition. Here in the U.S., the collection has been published by Seven Stories Press and. . .

Read More >

Selected Translations by W. S. Merwin
Selected Translations by W. S. Merwin by Various
Reviewed by Grant Barber

“South”

To have watched from one of your patios
the ancient stars
from the bank of shadow to have watched
the scattered lights
my ignorance has learned no names for
nor their places in constellations
to have heard the ring of. . .

Read More >

LoveStar
LoveStar by Andri Snær Magnason
Reviewed by Larissa Kyzer

When Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason first published LoveStar, his darkly comic parable of corporate power and media influence run amok, the world was in a very different place. (This was back before both Facebook and Twitter, if you can. . .

Read More >

Hi, This Is Conchita and Other Stories
Hi, This Is Conchita and Other Stories by Santiago Roncagliolo
Reviewed by Tiffany Nichols

When starting Hi, This Is Conchita and Other Stories, Santiago Roncagliolo’s second work to be translated into English, I was expecting Roncagliolo to explore the line between evil and religion that was front and center in Red April. Admittedly, I. . .

Read More >

City of Angels, or, The Overcoat of Dr. Freud
City of Angels, or, The Overcoat of Dr. Freud by Christa Wolf
Reviewed by Josh Billings

Christa Wolf’s newly-translated City of Angels is a novel of atonement, and in this way the work of art that it resembles most to me is not another book, but the 2003 Sophia Coppola film Lost in Translation. Like that. . .

Read More >

Where Tigers Are at Home
Where Tigers Are at Home by Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès
Reviewed by Grant Barber

French author—philosopher, poet, novelist—de Roblès writes something approaching the Great (Latin) American Novel, about Brazilian characters, one of whom is steeped in the life of the seventeenth century polymath (but almost always erroneous) Jesuit Athanasius Kircher. Eleazard von Wogau, a. . .

Read More >

Lenin's Kisses
Lenin's Kisses by Yan Lianke
Reviewed by Brendan Riley

A rich, beautifully written, consistently surprising satire, Yan Lianke’s Lenin’s Kisses boasts an elaborate, engrossing plot with disarming twists and compelling characters both challenged and challenging. It leads the reader on a strange pilgrimage—often melancholy but certainly rewarding—through a China. . .

Read More >

The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira
The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira by César Aira
Reviewed by Emily Davis

Maybe I’ve been watching too much Doctor Who lately, and I’m therefore liable to see everything through science-fiction-colored glasses. But when the pages of The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira refer to “the totality of the present and of eternity”. . .

Read More >

The next few events from our Translation Events Calendar: See More Events >