Translation awards and a new course
International Translation Day, officially celebrated on September 29, the feast day of St Jerome, the patron saint of translators, came with some good news for Greek translators. The European Translation Center (EKEMEL) announced five new prizes for literary translations into Greek from English, French, German, Italian and Spanish at a discussion held at the French Institute on Monday. EKEMEL has reached an agreement with the British Council, the French Institute, the Goethe Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute and the Cervantes Institute to offer awards of 3,000 euros apiece to translations published in 2006 of novels, short stories, poetry or theater, and a one-month stay at the House of Literature on Paros for the winning translator. «I feel very good about the awards,» EKEMEL director Natividad Galvez told Kathimerini English Edition. «Translation is not sufficiently recognized and these awards will encourage students and translators. It is an acknowledgment of the translators’ work and it will make their names known.» There already is a state award for translation but, as Galvez noted, it is only for one language a year. Each prize jury will include a representative of the foreign institute, a translator and a literary critic. The winners of each award will be entitled to sit on the following year’s jury. The contract for the awards will be reviewed annually, as the foreign institutes cannot commit themselves more than a year ahead. The deadline for applications, which may be submitted by translators and publishers, is January 31, 2007. (EKEMEL’s address is 2 Lykavittou, Athens 10671.) New course There is more good news from EKEMEL with the announcement of the long-awaited Greek-to-English translation course starting this month. The course lasts 25 weeks with five contact hours per week for two years. It includes classes in the history of Greek literature and workshops with guest translators and Greek writers. It is intended for native speakers of English with a good knowledge of Greek and bilinguals. The cost is 750 euros per year. (For information, log on to [email protected].)
