Writers in Translation

Each year, Writers in Translation support between 6 and 8 books that are translated from a wide variety of foreign languages. Our aim is to celebrate books of outstanding literary value, dedication to free speech and intercultural understanding.

In March 2008, Writers in Translation Committee chose to support 4 books which will be published in the second half of 2008:

1) Peter Pistanek: The Wooden Village (Rivers of Babylon 2) and The End of Freddy (Rivers of Babylon 3), translated from Slovak and Czech by Peter Petro, Garnett Press, November 2008;

2) Saša Stanišić: How The Soldier Repairs the Gramophone, translated from German by Anthea Bell, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, June 2008;

3) Orhan Kemal: Vagabond Years, translated from Turkish by Cengiz Lugal, Peter Owen Publishers, June 2008;

4) Faïza Guène: Dreams from the Endz, translated from French by Sarah Ardizzone, Chatto & Windus, June 2008;

5) Evelio Rosero: The Armies, translated from Spanish by Anne McLean, MacLehose Press, November 2008

The publication of books will be celebrated at dedicated events, organized by publishers and English PEN, in the presence of authors and translators.

Writers in Translation is currently promoting

The Siege by Ismail Kadare, translated from French by David Bellos, published by Canongate, May 2008

In a magical way that only great writers can achieve, Kadare's Turks are at one and the same time the image of what we are not, and a faithful representation of what we have become. This exotic tale, dealing with a far-off past, echoes with the clashes that burden us today, as we watch the mightiest army in the world hesitate between assault and retreat. Kadare's art is to imagine situations so precise and so awful as to recur again and again.Originating in an Albania where censorship was a fact of life, this book speaks to readers in multiple voices. It tells us of the absurdity of oppression, the elusiveness of freedom and the timelessness of man's desire to do battle.