Gary Racz Wins Alicia Gordon Award

Next spring (like March 2012), we’re publishing Gary Racz’s translation of Eduardo Chirnino’s The Smoke of Distant Fires. I’m really excited about this book, and especially excited to be able to work with Gary. I’ve only known him for a few years, but he’s one of the friendliest, funniest, warmest people I know. (And his wife is from Rochester!) He’s also slated to be the next president for the American Literary Translators Association, which should be a great thing.

Anyway, I just got this press release about his winning the Alicia Gordon Award, and thought I’d just run this as is:

G. J. Racz was awarded the American Literary Translators Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation for his outstanding Spanish-into-English translation of the poem, “Alphabetical-Numerical Prophecy.”

Racz, an associate professor of Foreign Languages and Literature at Long Island University-Brooklyn is the vice president of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) and is the review editor for Translation Review. His many publications include more than three hundred translations of Spanish-language poems in journals and anthologies.

The Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation was established in memory of Alicia Gordon, known for creating imaginative solutions to knotty translation problems, based on rigorous research. It recognizes outstanding literary, legal, technical, and commercial translation of all kinds. The award is administered by the American Foundation for Translation and Interpretation.

Founded in 1959, the American Translators Association’s primary goals include fostering and supporting the professional development of translators and interpreters and promoting the translation and interpreting professions. ATA, based in Alexandria, Virginia, currently has more than 11,000 members worldwide. For more information on ATA, please visit www.atanet.org.

Congrats, Gary!