This year, literary translation is the master theme of BEA (Book Expo America), the U.S. book fair which has been growing in recent years, though it still hasn’t stretched to the size of a Frankfurt, a Guadalajara, a London or even a Leipzig. Usually it’s the literature of one particular country that provides the focus for what, in BEA lingo, is known as the Global Market Forum (a series of conference events that accompany the expo), but this year the Global Market Forum’s title is “Books In Translation: Wanderlust for the Written Word.” I’m just thrilled to see so much translation programming being presented to BEA’s primary audience of book industry professionals. If you’ll be attending BEA, why not check out some well-staffed panels at the Javits Center. All these events will be held in Room 1E11 on Wednesday, May 28. Here’s the lineup:
9:45 – 10:00 a.m.
Books In Translation: Wanderlust for the Written Word – an introduction to the day’s panels
10:00 – 10:50 a.m.
Mapping Translation Today: From Niche to Global Bestseller – with Carol Brown Janeway, Joel Dicker, Rüdiger Wischenbart, Susan Harris and Vladimir Grigoriev
11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Discoverability – Finding Readers for Translated Works with Digital Marketing Innovations – with Holger Ehling, Javier Celaya, Michael Z. Wise and Susie Nicklin
12:00 – 12:50 p.m.
Case Studies: Successful Insight from Translators and Editors – with Esther Allen, Antony Shugaar, John Siciliano, Marcos Giralt Torrente and Maria Campbell
2:00 – 2:50 p.m.
What Editors Need to Know: Successful Translations into English – with Tina Weiner, Marleen Seegers, Riky Stock and Susan Bernofsky
3:00 – 3:50 p.m.
Making Translation Work – The Author, the Translator and the Editor – with Christopher Kenneally, Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Marco Malvaldi, Mariusz Szczygiel, Michael Reynolds and Sal Robinson http://bea14.mapyourshow.com/5_0/sessions/sessiondetails.cfm?ScheduledSessionID=1DA9
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Funding Programs: Supporting Successful Translation of Books – with Rüdiger Wischenbart, Yana Genova, Ana Pérez Galván, Bogdan Popescu, Elena Philips, Elisabeth Pyroth, Peter Kaufmann and Salim Omar Salim.
Full descriptions of each of these panels can be found on the BEA website.
During BEA there will also be a series of short “how to” sessions organized by the PEN Translation Committee, all on the East Side Stage (Translation Market):
Thursday, May 29:
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
How to Find the Right Translator for Your Project with Margaret Carson11:00 – 11:30 a.m.
How to Draw a Crowd for Translated Books with Alex Zucker2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
How to Market Your Translated Book with Michael BarronFriday, May 30:
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
How to Deal With Translation and Copyright with Skott Klebe2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
How to Work with International Translation Grants and Grant Sponsors with Yana GenovaSaturday, May 31:
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
How to Edit a Translation with Ann Goldstein
There will also be a number of other BEA translation events on Thursday, May 29 on the East Side Stage including:
10:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Romania: “Translation as an Icebreaker”
12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Spain: Spanish literary fiction featuring Antón Mallick Wants to Be Happy by Nicolás Casariego
1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Italy: Translations from Italy: “Voci dal sud” (Voices from the South)
2:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Germany: The German Translation Programs of the Goethe-Institut
4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Russia: Read Russia – New Modes of International Translation Support
On Friday, May 30 in Room 1E15 there’ll be a panel on Polish author Marek Hlasko: Rediscovering a Literary Rebel featuring Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Ross Ufberg and Sal Robinson, 9:30 – 10:20 a.m.
Other events on Friday, May 30, held on the East Side Stage, include:
10:30 – 11:00 a.m.
USA: Amazon Crossing-Bestsellers Crossing Borders
11:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Austria: Austrian Cultural Forum New York- Translation Prize 2014
12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Fostering Translation Between the Arab World and International by the Sharjah International Book FairFri. May 30
1:30 – 2:00 p.m.
The New International Congress of Literary Translators
3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Hungary: Publishing Hungary
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
USA: Amazon Crossing: Author & Translator Q&A with author Erik Valeur and translator K.E. Semmel
4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Romania: “How to Translate Eminescu – a Famous Romanian National Poet”
And there’ll be one last translation event held on the East Side Stage – after the last of the “how to” sessions – on Saturday, May 31:
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Japanese Literature in English
Detailed information on all the panels listed above, including full participant lists where not given here, can be found here.