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Flash Collaboration: Literary translation knowledge base (Draft)
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Flash collaboration knowledge base created during ProZ.com's
August 7th Networking event for Poetry & Literature translators

Table of contents

Click below to access each section of this draft:

FAQ’s
Additional free online information about literary translation

Resources for finding international literature / literature in translation

Blogs by literary translators

Forums for literary translators

Events for literary translators

Places to do literary translation on a volunteer basis

Literary translation contests

Professional associations for literary translators

International
USA

Europe
Country Specific

Schools / educational programs for literary translators

Books (in print) about literary translation

Sources of grants/funding/prizes for literary translation

Resources for writers

Libraries

Glossaries / Dictionaries

To add your input to this document, complete the form located here:
http://proz.me/LiteraryKnowledgeBaseForm

Literary Translation -- FAQs

This FAQ has been developed based on a review of the ProZ.com literary translation forum. Suggested additions and edits will be appreciated.

Q: I am interested in literary translation. What sorts of work are there?

A: Books, short stories, poems, lyrics, comics, plays, operas, subtitles, jokes, etc.

Q: When it comes to literary and poetic translations, what formal qualifications are normally required of a translator?

A: There are no particular certifications that are commonly required. Rather, clients tend to consider previous work -- particularly published work.

Q: How is the pay in literary translation, compared to commercial? Can one make a living at it?

A: Although rates can vary considerably, in general, rates paid for literary translation tend to be lower than rates paid for commercial work.

CEATL published detailed information on literary translator pay in various European countries in 2008/2009 -- see http://www.ceatl.eu/docs/surveyuk.pdf -- suggesting that it is difficult to earn a living as a literary translators. Discussions in the ProZ.com literary translator forum are not entirely inconsistent with this conclusion -- although occasionally those earning a living in literary translation will comment -- see: http://www.proz.com/topic/143723 (ProZ.com member Attila Piróth also published results from his independent survey: http://www.pirothattila.com/PI_Survey.pdf)

Q: Who decides that a book needs to be translated?

A: Peter Linton wrote this in the ProZ.com forums: “Varies. Publishing houses keep an ear to the ground, listening for hot new trends. Literary translators also keep an ear to the ground, and may sometimes suggest interesting books, either ones that have commercial potential, or ones that are so impressive they deserve to be published.” See: http://www.proz.com/topic/196187

Q: I read a good book and I’d like to translate it. How can I look into this?

A number of translators at ProZ.com have reported success in approaching publishers concerning translation of a particular book. Colin Ryan said: “In the past I wanted to get into literary translation as well, and now I have translated 2 novels from Italian into English. In both cases I simply found a novel I liked and sent an email to the author asking his permission to translate it, and whether their publisher would be interested in the project. “ http://www.proz.com/post/1602370#1602370

The organization ALTA has published a useful guide on how to approach authors and/or publishers in a knowledgeable and professional manner. See: http://www.utdallas.edu/alta/pdf/ProposalForABookLengthTranslation.pdf

Q: What are "translation rights" or “foreign language rights”?

A: Translation rights, or “foreign language rights”, are rights that the original publisher of a book can sell for individual languages, thereby granting another publisher legal permission to publish a version of that book in another language. (Source: ProZ.com user urbom: http://www.proz.com/post/1216667#1216667 )

Q: Is there a way to translate literature without getting involved in negotiations with publishers, etc.?

A: You might consider works whose copyrights have expired and have therefore come into the public domain (usually because 70 years has passed since an author’s death). Nothing would stop one from translating such a work and either contracting with a publisher, or self-publishing.

A: ProZ.com user reported: “I started translating Hanns Heinz Ewers because I loved his work and couldn't find any English translations anyway. I started with early material published prior to 1923 and published it POD or print on demand. That got me the attention of a publisher and of the author's estate...” http://www.proz.com/post/1654240#1654240

Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/ lists books and works that are public domain in the United States due to copyright expiration.

Q: Is a portion of the amount payable for a book translation typically paid up front?

A: Yes, in most countries -- at least in Europe. See page 29 of the CEATL survey: http://www.ceatl.eu/docs/surveyuk.pdf

Q: How should I charge for literary translations such as poetry or song lyrics?

A: Some suggest by the hour, with a minimum charge per poem. As one point of reference, the Society of Author’s Translator Association in the UK recommends a minimum of £1.10 per line for poetry, with a minimum of £32 per poem.

Q: When translating a book or other literary work, can I expect attribution, royalties or other such rights?

A: It may be possible to have your name appear in the publication, earn a percentage of royalties on an ongoing basis, etc. -- it all depends on what you can negotiate. Model contracts are available online from PEN and other sources. http://72.10.54.216/page.php/prmID/322 A non-legalese discussion of negotiating terms can be found here: http://72.10.54.216/page.php/prmID/320

For additional reference, CEATL has published data from a survey carried out across Europe that indicates typical agreed terms in various regions. http://www.ceatl.eu/docs/surveyuk.pdf 

Q: I’ve been asked to do a translation for free, in exchange for ongoing royalties. Is this commonly done?

A: Most professional translators advise against this, unless either (1) the work has already enjoyed significant sales in its original language, or (2) you don’t really need to make money on the project.

Q: How can I find out whether or not a given book has been translated previously?

A: Try a web search or the Index Translationum maintained by UNESCO: http://www.unesco.org/xtrans/

Q: How fast do you go when translating a book?

A: This question was asked at the ProZ.com virtual conference. A few people agreed on “a page an hour”. One said “a page a day”. (“I did it part-time and have another source of income. I'm a perfectionist which is good and bad.“)

Q: What about a poem? HOw fast then?

A: One participant wrote: “four lines. it takes me from half an hour to two hours :) “

Additional free online information about literary translation

Additional FAQs related to literary translation: http://www.societyofauthors.org/translation-faqs

Getting Started in Literary Translation -- The Making of  Literary Translator (ALTA) - http://www.utdallas.edu/alta/pdf/TheMakingOfALiteraryTranslator.pdf

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Resources for finding international literature / literature in translation

Blogs by literary translators

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Forums for literary translators

Events for literary translators

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Places to do literary translation on a volunteer basis

http://lyricstranslate.com

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Literary translation contests

ProZ.com Translation Contests - http://www.proz.com/translation-contests/

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Professional associations for literary translators

Most of the translator associations in the world are oriented toward commercial translators. But fortunately, there are also a number of associations (and divisions of associations) in various countries dedicated specifically to literary translation. Among them are:

International

PEN is a worldwide association of writers, that has “Centers” in countries throughout the world. Some of these Centers have departments dedicated to translation. (For example, the page for the PEN America Translation Committee is here: http://www.pen.org/translation ) To find PEN Centers in other countries, see: http://www.pen.org/pen-world

USA

American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) - http://www.utdallas.edu/alta/

ATA literary division: http://www.ata-divisions.org/LD/

Europe

RECIT is a network of European literary translation centres offering residencies for translators and organising events bringing together writers & translators. Réseau Européen des Centres Internationaux de Traducteurs littéraires - http://www.re-cit.eu/

Europe Council of Literary Translators’ Associations - http://www.ceatl.eu/

(members of that association include the following associations:

PETRA (European Platform for Literary Translation) is an organization seeking to seeks to bring about change in the situation for literary translators in Europe. The group brings together the initiatives and expertise of organisations active in the field of literary translation in Europe, including translators' and writers' organisations, literary networks, policy-making bodies and organisations dealing with education, publishing and copyright.http://www.petra2011.eu/

Country specific

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Schools / educational programs for literary translators

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Books (in print) about literary translation

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Sources of grants/funding/prizes for literary translation

Resources for writers

Association of writers and writing programs - https://www.awpwriter.org/ 

Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales - http://www.cnrtl.fr/ 

Libraries

Bibliothèque Nationale de France (two million documents) - http://gallica.bnf.fr/ 

Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes - http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/

Glossaries/Dictionaries

Words and/or phrases: http://www.translatum.gr/dics/gr.htm 

Idioms http://users.otenet.gr/~vamvakos/a.htm

List of Greek phrases - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_phrases

Greek slang http://www.slang.gr/

Swear words - http://www.youswear.com/

British idioms - http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/country/british+english.html 

UK Slang - http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

Various terms http://www.englishdaily626.com/

Gay Slang Dictionary - http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=index&d=8 

Sexual terms http://www.sex-lexis.com/ 

Historical sex terms http://www.lacydanes.com/historic-sex/ 

Encyclopedia of phrases in many languages (even includes Klingon!) - http://www.omniglot.com/index.htm 

Proverbs and sayings: British http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html/ 

Irish slang http://www.slang.ie/mostcommon.php 

Scottish proverbs: http://www.firstfoot.com/proverbs 

The Dictionary of the Scots Language (DSL) - http://www.dsl.ac.uk/index.html 

Glossary of Scots Words - http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/glossary1.htm 

Le-petit-robert-micro (French) - http://www.lerobert.com/dictionnaires-generalistes/le-petit-robert-micro.html 

French -English Synonyms - http://dico.isc.cnrs.fr/dico/fr/search

Oxford English dictionary (OED) - http://www.oed.com/ 

Collins free online English dictionary - http://www.collinsdictionary.com/