Here’s something for American publishers to salivate over: English PEN gives out grants (supported by Arts Council England) twice a year to help publishers in the U.K. publish translated books. PEN Translates grants cover up to 75% of translation costs, or even up to 100% in the case of smaller publishers. That’s the kind of thing that can happen when you live in an country where the government provides more robust and wide-sweeping financial support for the arts than is available to us in the U.S., despite heroic efforts on the part of the NEA. These grants to U.K. publishers don’t stipulate anything about the nationality of the translator, so if you have a project that’s right to pitch to a publisher across the pond, pitch away!
Here’s the list of supported translations that’s just been announced:
- The Yogini by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha. Tilted Axis Press, October 2019. Country of origin: India
- Butterfly Valley by Sherko Bekas, translated from Sorani (Iraqi Kurdish) by Choman Hardi. Arc Publications, March 2018. Country of origin: Iraqi Kurdistan
- The Desert and the Drum by Mbarek Ould Beyrouk, translated from French by Rachael McGill. Dedalus, June 2018. Country of origin: Mauritania
- The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti, translated from Italian by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre. Harvill Secker, April 2018. Country of origin: Italy
- The Chilli Bean Paste Clan by Yan Ge, translated from Chinese by Nicky Harman. Balestier Press, June 2018. Country of origin: China
- Men Don’t Cry by Faïza Guène, translated from French by Sarah Ardizzone. Cassava Republic, September 2018. Country of origin: France
- L’ora de partir by Sèrgi Javaloyès, translated from Occitan by James Thomas. Francis Boutle, autumn 2018. Country of origin: France
- A Place Upon Your Face by Sema Kaygusuz, translated from Turkish by Nicholas Glastonbury. Tilted Axis Press, November 2018. Country of origin: Turkey
- The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero, translated from Spanish by Annie McDermott. And Other Stories, spring 2020. Country of origin: Uruguay
- Negative Space by Luljeta Lleshanaku, translated from Albanian by Ani Gjika. Bloodaxe Books, February 2018. Country of origin: Albania
- Home is Like a Different Time by Eva Moreda, translated from Galician by Craig Patterson. Francis Boutle, 2018. Country of origin: Spain
- States of Passion by Nihad Sirees, translated from Arabic by Max Weiss. Pushkin Press, August 2018. Country of origin: Syria
- The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated from Polish by Jennifer Croft. Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2019. Country of origin: Poland
- The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, translated from Spanish by Annie McLean. Maclehose Press, May 2018. Country of origin: Colombia
- The Polyglot Lovers by Lina Wolff, translated from Swedish by Saskia Vogel. And Other Stories, February 2019. Country of origin: Sweden
- Moving Parts by Prabda Yoon, translated from Thai by Mui Poopoksakul. Tilted Axis Press, October 2018. Country of origin: Thailand