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Happy Fat Tuesday, dear reader. For lent this year, I'm hosting another Psalm Translation Contest (see the previous posting here). Last year's winner wrote a brilliant reversal of Psalm 26. Entrants went on to publish their translations in Image, A-Minor Magazine, and The Missouri Review. So, round two...
Rules: Pick any biblical Psalm and translate it into English (foreign language entries welcome with literal translation included). Mangle, tangle, make strange, reverse, jump off from - in short do whatever you like with your psalm as long as the result is strong poetry. No knowledge of Hebrew is necessary. Entries will be judged (by panel) on originality, musicality, accuracy (to the psalm's spirit), and aesthetics. Send entries to:
MatthewDLandrum(at)gmail(dot)com. (Change (at) to @ and (dot) to .)
Prize: $200 and a beat-up copy of George Steiner's "After Babel - Aspect of Language and Translation." Winners will be published on this blog.Deadline: Easter Sunday (March 31, 2013)
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Hinchas de Poesía is currently soliciting submissions of prose, poetry and translations for our ninth issue, scheduled to launch on March 20th.
Hinchas is an online digital codex dedicated to contemporary Pan-American writing. Hinchas are Spanglish speakers,18-45, who grew up in populous Latino exurbs (Miami, Los Angeles, D.C.) and may or may not watch soccer, but know to call it fútbol. Hinchas are the homicidal fútbol fanatics of Latin America, particularly of the Argentine variety.
A short list of writers published between our digital pages includes: Tomaz Salamun, Campbell McGrath, Melinda Palacio, Yaddyra Peralta, Lous Bourgeois, Luivette Resto-Ometeotl, Chip Livingston, James Cervantes and Flavia Cosma.
Multiple submissions are permitted, but please do inform us if your work has been accepted elsewhere.
For submission guidelines please visit our website & click on the "Submit" tab. You can also join the conversation with us on our Facebook page.
Arroyo Literary Review is a print-based publication produced annually by students and alumni of California State University, East Bay. Each issue reflects the creative diversity found in the San Francisco Bay Area literary scene, while bringing together material from an international array of poets, writers, and artists.
Arroyo began with an investigation: faculty and students sought to establish a magazine capturing the spirit and diverse voices of the Bay Area while attracting writers from across the country and a national readership. What they discovered, however, was a void. Bigger presses seemed to ignore the dynamics of California culture, while smaller presses had predicated themselves on niches. With the opportunity presenting itself, those same students built the school’s first literary magazine from the ground up, eventually releasing the premiere issue in Spring of 2009.
Since then, that tradition of motivation and commitment has been passed on to each proceeding incarnation of the review. The editorial staff remains dedicated to showcasing both new and established writers from the West Coast and beyond, hoping to connect the magazine’s audience with the unique qualities that make the Bay Area literary and art scene so special.
We are seeking fiction, flash fiction, poetry, essays, and translation for our sixth issue.
Open reading period from December 1 to May 31. No e-mail submissions. Please see our website for submission guidelines.
By: Jeanne Lyet Gassman,
on 10/29/2012
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Greetings from Reunion: The Dallas Review
We are now accepting submissions. Reunion is a rising literary and fine arts journal sponsored by the School of Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas, featuring high-quality poetry, fiction, non-fiction, visual arts, translation and drama.
We are seeking well-crafted quality work from across the nation and abroad to be featured in our large format, full color annual publication. Our current deadline is Dec. 15. Please visit our website to submit your work.
Hinchas de Poesia
ISSUE #7 OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Hinchas de Poesía is currently soliciting submissions for issue#7. The deadline for submitting work is July 25th; we foreseepublishing issue #7 by August of 2012.
Hinchas is an online digital codex dedicated to contemporary Pan-American writing. Hinchas are Spanglish speakers,18-45, who grew up in populous Latino exurbs (Miami, Los Angeles, D.C.) and may or may not watch soccer, but know to call it fútbol. Hinchas are the homicidal fútbol fanatics of Latin America, particularly of the Argentine variety.
A short list of writers published between our digital pages include: Tomaz Salamun, Campbell McGrath, Melinda Palacios, Yaddyra Peralta, Louis Bourgeois, Luivette Resto-Ometeotl, Guillermo Castro, Stephen Page, Nick Vagnoni, David Spicer, Chip Livingston, James Cervantes, Kristine Chalifoux, Bojan Louis, Shana Wolstein, Flavia Cosma,and M.G.Stephens.
Our reading period for our fall issue will run from Monday, May 21st, 2012 until Monday, July 25th 2012. Multiple submissions are permitted, but please do inform us if your work has been accepted elsewhere.
Poetry: Please submit up to three previously unpublished pieces. Please include your name, contact information, and the titles for your poems. All questions regarding poetry and poetry submissions should be directed to:
heavily(at)hinchasdepoesia.com
Prose: Typically, we request that fiction submissions not exceed three thousand words. For issue #7, we request that submissions of micro-fiction not exceed one thousand words. Please include your name, contact information and the title of your piece(s). All questions regarding fiction andfiction submissions should be directed to:
gonzo(at)hinchasdepoesia.com
Translations: Please submit up to three previously unpublished translations alongside the work in the source language. Please include your name, contact information, and the titles for your translations; in addition,submit the name of the writer you have translated, their publisher information,and the original titles you have chosen to translate. All questions regarding translations and translation submissions should be directed to:
yago(at)hinchasdepoesia.com
Artwork: Please send art as a .jpeg image 2400 pixels wide (high res.) at a 72 dpi.To ensure compatability, please only attach images as .jpegs; please ensure that attachments are no larger than 24 MBs; if you are sending multiple images that exceed this capacity, send images separately. All questions regarding art and art submissions should be directed to:
Jennifer(at)hinchasdepoesia.com
Book Reviews: We request that reviews not exceed one thousand words, and that the subject, title, publisher, and year of publication appear clearly delineated. All questions regarding reviews and submissions of reviews should be addressed to the respective editors
.
All submissions are handled through our Submittable account, or through our website under the “Submissions” tab. We look forward to reading your best work; if you have any questions, please contact us at:
info(at)hinchasdepoesia.com
YagoCura, Publisher
JimHeavily, Poetry Editor
J.David Gonzalez, Prose Editor
JenniferTherieau, Art Editor
Last week’s booklist shone a light on the luminaries who have been awarded the world’s most lucrative prize for children’s literature, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
Not surprisingly, publishers and readers tend to take an interest in winners of such awards, and this year’s winner Guus Kuijer’s works attracted attention at the Bologna Book Fair last week. Watch for a spike in sales over the weeks (and hopefully months) to come.
Translated books from other languages can be a bit hit-and-miss. The readability of the end product depends not only on the original author’s writing style but also on the interpretative intelligence of the translator. But the result can be spellbinding, justifying the faith of those publishers willing to risk thinking outside the English language box, and resulting in successful sales on a global scale.
Here’s a random list of a few such winners, some more obviously for children than others. I’m sure there will be many more to add to the list:
1. Inkheart (and sequels Inkspell and Inkdeath) by Cornelia Funke
Originally in German, this book was translated by Anthea Bell, who is probably more famous as one of the translating duo who took on the Asterix books. It’s the story of Meggie, whose father, a bookbinder named Mo, has an unusual ability; when he reads aloud, he can bring characters and items from books into the real world. When Meggie was three years old, Mo read a book called Inkheart aloud to her mother, who promptly vanished into the Inkworld, replaced by three villains from the novel. Nine years later, these men have come back into their lives and Meggie’s and Mo’s lives will never be the same.
Chicken House
2. The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
This is the first book by the author best known for the runaway bestseller The Shadow of the Wind, which, although marketed to adults, could very easily be read by teens. In this earlier example of his work you can see where the author is heading; it’s an intriguing mix of history, adventure and the inexplicable.
Max Carver, son of a watchmaker, has moved with his family from the city in order to get away
from the war. Max’s new house was formerly owned by Richard Fleischman, his wife and son, Jacob, whose drowning remains an unsolved mystery. Over time, Max discovers a sculpture garden near his house, where strange things happen. Max finally makes a friend, Roland. But it is Roland’s grandfather, Victor, who has the answers to Max’s questions.
Zafron’s other book for YA readers is The Midnight Palace, which is described by the UK Guardian as ‘a blood-soaked story, set in Calcutta’.
Text
3. The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer (German title: The Flowing Queen)
Published in 2007, this book by one of Germany’s most famous authors is a success by anyone’s definition. It went into its third US printing before it was even delivered to bookstores and the British edition won the 2007 Marsh Award for Best Children’s Book in Translation.
0 Comments on Booklist: Foreign treasures as of 1/1/1900
John Jensen Feels Different
By Henrik Hovland
Illustrated by Torill Kove
Translated by Don Bartlett
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
$16.00
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5399-8
For ages 4-8
On shelves now
There is a lot to be said for a picture book book that is so unapologetically Norwegian that it ends up making you completely (not to mention unexpectedly) love it, regionalism and all. If you’ve ever encountered a large quantity of picture books from countries other than your own then you’ll know that tone is everything. Books in America tend to a have a distinctive flavor while books from other nations have another. Sometimes (often?) the two flavors don’t mix but once in a great while you end up with something like John Jensen Feels Different and everything’s okay again. A recent import, the book tackles the familiar theme of it’s-okay-to-be-different and gives it a bit of a twist. Understated and sly it’s a unique kind of book about a unique kind of guy. Funny and unfamiliar all at once, this is one case where the packaging matches the product.
John Jensen. He feels different. He feels it at home, on the bus, and at work. As we watch this perfectly amiable alligator (crocodile?) navigates through the realistic world of humans, holding down a good job as a tax consultant, we see him struggle with the idea. After much thought John decides that it’s his tail that makes him so very different from other people. Yet an attempt to tape it to his body only turns to pain when he sprains it after an accident. At the hospital he makes the acquaintance of Dr. Field (a nice elephant) who gives John the inspiring words he needs to stop being silly about his tail/who he is and to get on with his life.
I love the deadpan humor of it all. In fact the visual gags are such a perfect complement to the text that I was surprised to find that the author and illustrator weren’t one and the same. They must have consulted with one another heavily when creating the book. For example, I loved how artist Torill Kove portrayed John as a slightly sheepish reptilian office mate. There’s a great moment when he looks at a picture of fellow alligators, all of whom are his identical match, and he thinks, “Maybe I was adopted” followed by the book’s comment that “He doesn’t seem to look like anyone else in his family.” There were other little sly moments as well. I love that Dr. Field wears red sneakers. And I thought the endpapers were particularly keen. At the front of the book is the beginning of John tying his customary red bow tie and at the back is the rest of the process. It’s practically step by step.
Then there’s the story itself. This is one of those books where the child readers squeal in frustration at the hero’s seeming stupidity. As John tries to figure out why exactly he’s different you can practically channel the voices of five-year-olds across the globe that scream, “He’s an alligator!!!” Of course, by not mentioning that John is an alligator (or is he a crocodile?) the book becomes an easy metaphor. By the way, the translation of the book is by one Don Bartlett. Let
Researchers at the University of Calgary have complied a one-of-a-kind collection of 70 translations of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" novels and have published selections from those translations online, reports the Vancouver Sun. Geared to educators, students and Potter-fans alike, the resource "will feature images from international dust jackets and audio files with selections from each of the 70 translations, including Afrikaans, Hindi, ancient Greek and Latin." Russian literature professor and the leader behind this project, Nicholas Zekulin, says:
"It's a work which presents real challenges for the translator," said Zekulin. "How do you translate 'quidditch'? Nobody can... The Ukrainian translation is interesting. They don't have (Hogwarts) school, they have an orphanage. And the reason is that in Ukrainian culture, the idea of a boarding school is completely unknown. The only thing they could conceive of as bringing children together was an orphanage."
The 70 translations can be found in the
Language Research Centre on the University's website.
I'm an American author whose book is set in a foreign country. I've received an offer from a publisher in that country. They want to translate the book, and publish it there. This is great news, but the market is very small. I also want to publish in the US, not just because it is a bigger market but also because it is my home. Should I hold off on accepting the foreign offer until (if!) I can work something out with a US publisher? If I do go ahead and publish abroad, then can I revise the MS for a US publisher or is it set in stone and unrevisable once published?
If it's a very small market, your US publisher may not mind your having sold the rights already. And more and more, agents seem to be going after foreign sales for their clients, so publishers are a bit more accustomed to not having a lot of foreign rights for novels. So that's unlikely to be an issue.
As for revision, every translation fiddles with the exact phrasing of the text--if it doesn't then the translation won't sound natural to native speakers. So some differences between the English and other language editions are expected.
So if there were some way for you to be sure you weren't going to do very much revision (for instance if you've decided already that you're going to be inflexible and hard to work with--which I assume is not the case), then there would be no problem. But imagine your US editor has a bunch of suggestions that get you really excited and that (for instance) change the ending completely.
There probably still wouldn't be a problem with copyright between the two editions, but how would you feel about that scenario? Would you want two very different versions of your story out there--when one of them might end up feeling to you like a beta version and not the story you most want to share with readers?
I am a French author. I work with a dozen publishers in France and some of my books are translated into Spanish, Chinese, Korean, etc.. But not in English! I just moved to Ireland and I would like to see my books here. How do I do? Do I find an agent to translate and publish my books? In France the agents do not exist, I contacted the publishers directly and they deal themself for the foreign rights ...
The question is really: whose rights are these?
If the foreign language rights belong to your French publisher, how did your French publisher show your books to Spanish, Korean, and Chinese publishers
without having shown them to US and UK publishers? That seems extremely unlikely to me; it seems far more likely that the US and UK publishers simply weren't interested. Some books, whether because of art style or topic or treatment, just don't translate to certain other book markets. For every
Everyone Poops, there's a
Santa Through the Window.
If the foreign rights are yours, then you could get an agent to represent the foreign rights. Readers, any agent suggestions?
Departure Time
By Truus Matti
Translated by Nancy Forest-Flier
namelos
$18.95
ISBN: 978-1-60898-009-3
Ages 9-12
On shelves now.
Translated children’s novels have a tough row to hoe. In my experience as a children’s librarian I’ll often find that folks react to them in a variety of different ways. Sometimes they like them, but often they’ll dislike the books and then fail to express what it is about the book they don’t like. Often it all breaks down into feelings. I’ve had people tell me that they found The Swan’s Child by Sjoerd Kuyper “special”, though they couldn’t pinpoint why. Others have said that The Squirrel’s Birthday and Other Parties by Toon Tellegen just wasn’t their cup of tea. I find this reaction to translated works frustrating but there’s little that I can do about it. I mean, you can’t contest a reader’s gut reaction, right? So it is with the deepest pleasure that I discovered Departure Time by Truus Matti. Part mystery, part fantasy, part philosophy (I keep comparing it in my head to Sophie’s World, but in a good way), I guarantee that once you start reading you may never feel inclined to stop. This is a book for the smart kids.
Two girls. The same girls? Impossible to say. When the book opens there are two competing narratives, and which one should you trust? Story #1 is about a nameless girl. She can remember nothing of her past and has no idea why she is struggling through a desert with only a bag full of music books by her side. Soon she finds a dilapidated hotel in the distance and upon entering is met by a gray fox and a large white rat. The two seem to mistake her for someone else at first, but as time goes on she earns their trust and their help in solving who she is and who the mysterious denizen of the hotel’s top floor might be. Story #2 weaves around Story #1 and is seemingly straightforward. Mouse’s father has died and in the depths of her grief and guilt, she remembers the events that led to his dying and the fateful letter that she is certain contributed to his demise. As readers parse the two stories they notice similarities between the two. Is Mouse the girl in Story #1? Who is the mysterious music player? The answers will honestly surprise you.
This is going to make me sound a bit off my nut, but you know what this book reminded me the most of? When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. There’s no good reason for this. Stead’s novel was a science fiction/historical fiction bit of realism, with a dash of the unexpected on the side. Departure Time in contrast appears to be realistic fantasy, or fantastical realism. Magical realism, let’s say. Just the same, there are similarities to be found between both books. In When You Reach Me the main character is speaking to us from the future about mysteri
Oh dear. How did this happen?
Here’s my theory.
In Italian, you’d translate the cat’s whiskers as her ‘baffi’.
But, in Italian, the same word ‘baffi’ is also used to signify human whiskers: a moustache.
The internet’s an anthropomorphizing entity. So if you used an internet tool like Babel Fish to translate ‘baffi’ from Italian back to English, then you’d probably get ‘moustache’.
And I bet that the creative ponytails at this Italian cat-food company did just that, trying to come up with a brand that might profit from association with the world’s best-known cat food – without actually using the copyrighted logotype.
I know translation howlers are hardly a novelty. As the Arab proverb goes, a fool’s soul is always dancing on the tip of his tongue. My excuse for trotting them out on ABBA is that I’m going to offer a writing tip based on howler humour.
To give a character a funny foreign flavour, I sometimes go the Babel Fish route to create the kind of near-misses that are inherently amusing. I jiggle a phrase (not just a word) backwards and forwards between English and Italian with Babel Fish until I come up with a mistake that is clearly just that, but which bears a detectable resemblance to what is right.
Try it. It works with any two languages. Another way to create a howler is to delete all the punctuation in a paragraph and see what happens. Faux-naïve juxtaposition can work well, too.
‘Moustache’ is a recent serendipitous find. I nurture a long-term collection of howlers, originally researched for a book that I did for Past Times a zillion years ago. They seem to fall into five main categories, starting with over-ambitious marketing, like Moustache.
1. Marketing Howlers
This packet of ready-made pastry will make enough for four persons or twelve tarts.
WANTED: woman to wash iron and milk two cows.
FOR SALE: A bulldog. Will eat anything. Very fond of children.
Chinese Tailor. Ladies given fits upstairs.
2. Travel Howlers
A guide to Mostar:
Mostar has a Mediterranean climate with long warm summers and mild
winters. Due to these ideal climatic conditions Mostar has practically no
dead tourist season.
In the lobby of a Moscow hotel, with a Russian Orthodox monastery across the street:
You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursday.
In a flyer from a Polish hotel:
As for the trout served you at the hotel Monopol, you will be singing its praise to your grandchildren as you lie on your deathbed.
3. Menu Howlers
On the menu of a Polish hotel:
Limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people’s fashion.
One the menu of a German restaurant:
Pig in the family way.
On an Italian menu:
tartufo nero
hypocrite with chocolate
Menu posted outside a Venetian restaurant:
Pig in Green Granny Gravy
4. Officialese and Instructional Howlers
In a Belgrade hotel elevator:
To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving
I have translated a wonderful children picture book from Hebrew that addresses social and emotional intelligence and compassionate communication geared toward children ages 4-8. The book sold 100,000 copies in Israel since 1999 and now we are seeking a US publisher.
I am wondering how to find a publisher or an agent for such a topic since the books that I see in the market are very preachy, written by therapists and published by big publishers that do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
I know there is a huge market in the US for this book because the author came for a tour last December with a play based on the book and I was able to arrange many performance with almost no effort. People where begging me for books after and before the performances. I am just puzzled with how to break in the market.
Would appreciate your professional advice.
When you say that the book addresses "social and emotional intelligence and compassionate communication geared toward children ages 4-8", I cannot be sure whether you see "very preachy" as a plus or a minus. If you see preachiness as a minus, be aware that your query letter may be giving the wrong impression.
I should also mention that based on the mistakes in your question (where / many performance / children book / break in the market), your translation may be giving the wrong impression as well.
If you are talking about a book published by an Israeli publisher, then
(as I've mentioned before) the answer is that usually publishers in other countries are pursuing contacts at the large publishers themselves in an effort to sell foreign rights. As a fellow publisher, the 'no unsolicited manuscripts' rule doesn't apply to them. If this is the situation we're talking about, I don't understand why you would be the one pursuing a US publisher. (And just in case: if you don't work at the foreign publisher, you can't contact US publishers and say you're "representing" the foreign publisher.)
If you are talking about a self-published book, however, or (regardless of the term you use) any "publisher" where the author takes on the burden of selling the book, then you are effectively in the same boat with any other author attempting to find an agent or publisher, and all the same rules and advice applies-- except that you must also inform everyone you query or submit to that Hebrew rights are not available.
I hope that helps. Good luck!
One of the most exciting things to happen to me as a writer, apart from getting published in the first place, was hearing that my first book had been sold for publication in another country. In fact, The Darkling sold in two, which while hardly spectacular was still very pleasing. In Danish it appeared as Skyggen Masker (which means, I think, “Shadow Masks”). Being a monoglot I can’t comment on how well the translation was done, although a Danish friend of mine claims to have enjoyed the result. Either way, I was not involved in the process at all, and that seems to be fairly typical for translations into foreign languages.
On the other hand, I was involved in translating The Darkling into American English for the US edition – very much so. I was quite surprised how many changes were requested or required by my American publisher. Most of these were minor. Changing “paper round” to “paper route”, for example, caused me few qualms, and there were scores of “translations” into American at that level of inconsequence. But there were trickier issues, too. One central scene was set at a Bonfire Night firework display. Could I change the setting to something more familiar to US children, they asked? Er, not really. Or at least add a few lines to explain Guy Fawkes to a US readership? Oh, okay, then. I added a few lines.
And what about money? Would it be all right to change “50p” to “a dollar”? No, it wouldn’t! But why not, I asked myself? Admittedly, it would be odd for my English heroine to be using American currency, but not that much odder than having her tell her story in American English, surely? I’m not certain I ever sorted this out satisfactorily in my own mind. My rule of thumb, in so far as I had one, was to keep to a minimum those occasions when readers would be forced to notice my word choice, rather than the story that the words were there to tell. I wasn’t very happy about that, though: after all, as a writer I rather like readers to notice my word choices – and to admire them!
I recalled this experience the other day, after hearing from a colleague about the long-running battle in Translation Studies (yes, it is an academic subject) between “domesticators” and “foreignizers”. In brief, domesticating translators are happy to change texts to make them familiar and easily comprehensible to their audience, leaving readers with as little work to do as possible. Publishers of children’s books are domesticators by instinct – as too are Hollywood producers, with their long record of taking books set in Britain and relocating them to California, and the like. Foreignizing translators, by contrast, want their readers to be aware of the alien nature of what they’re reading, and to appreciate it. Part of the pleasure of reading a book from another culture lies precisely in learning about that culture and the ways in which it differs from one’s own, they argue. Publishers, unsurprisingly, tend to consider this a risky commercial strategy, unless the foreignness takes the form of a cliché that is itself familiar. Harry Potter’s Britishness was acceptable, and could even be turned into a selling point, because it played into a set of ideas about Britain that were already current in popular American culture. (On the other hand, some early readers of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone were bemused to read that Harry was wearing a jumper – which in US-ese is a sleeveless dress. In later editions I believe this was changed to “sweater”.)
Publishers will perhaps claim that their domesticating approach makes commercial sense, and that readers who relish the alien will always be in a small minority. I’d love to counter that they’re wrong, that they’ve sadly underestimated the curiosity and open-mindedness of US children – but since I have no evidence other than a general-belief-cum-pious-hope that people will be open-minded if their minds haven’t already been glued shut, I can’t say it with absolute conviction.
What I do feel I can grump about unreservedly are those clumsy translations that seem stuck in mid-Atlantic – in which children talk about baseball but deal in pounds and pence, or take a Greyhound bus to Scotland. Such books (no names, no pack-drill) are not authentically foreign, since they depict a place that has never existed, but they’re no more comfortingly domestic than Frankenstein’s monster.
Of course, all this happens in the reverse direction, too – with American books ineptly rendered for the British market. But my impression is that British publishers expect children here to be fairly familiar with American life anyway. And with good reason: on UK television, for example, there are far more television dramas set in American high schools than in British secondary schools. But that’s a rant for another day.
This morning, or evening if you happen to be in Europe,Herta Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Müller originally published in Romanian and German however her works have been translated into several languages, including English. Most of these translations have been though small presses and now an increase in demand for her work is causing some temporary shortages in supply.
I just checked Amazon, and they appeared to be out of stock with many of her English translations but you can still find used copies from various booksellers. So I thought I would post some links for people looking for Herta Müller translations.
*edit* - I also just checked on AbeBooks.com and it seems that copies are flying off the virtual shelves there as well. If you don't want to wait for the reprints I would pick one up sooner than later.
Last week we told you about a special gathering of translators for the Harry Potter novels due to take place in France as part of the UNESCO International Literacy day celebration. Today, there is a marvelous audio report online from the conference that includes interviews with professors and several of the translators of the novels. Notable are comments from the Thai translator and her remarks...
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Posted on 10/22/2008
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A quick update today regarding the upcoming publication of the new book from J.K. Rowling. As noted by the Bookseller and now seen on the Children's High Level website, a press release indicates that The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be published in Braille "produced in partnership with RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) in the UK and the National Braille Press in the USA." In addi...
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I LOVE going to the post office! Because you just never know...
And today, I was rewarded with this super cool Korean language edition of Dog Diaries: Secret Writing of the WOOF Society by Betsy Byars, Laurie Myers, and Betsy Duffey. I illustrated this about 2 years ago, but seeing it with a few design tweaks is giving me goosebumps all over again.
This is the first book that I've worked on to get any kind of foreign language edition (more news in that regard soon) and - please forgive me for saying it again - it is SO COOL!
It's a high quality paper back with lots of great design. Love the paw prints in the title font, the sepia tone rendering of my black & white art, and the little touches like the puppy's head down where our page numbers usually live. A big thanks to Arom Junior Publishing Co. and the Korean Copyright Center in Seoul for making this happen. Thanks again to Betsy & family and the good folks at Holt as well. I'm really looking forward to digging in to that Cat Diaries manuscript! Opps, I've said too much!
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But, but, but: nobody who matters would ever know the difference.
(Just trying on my American chauvinism to see if it still fits me.)
That's a very interesting situation. I think that's great that the book is getting published in the country the story is set in, though.
- Nicholas
I have no advice to share, sorry. But I find it interesting that the story is set in Sweden, because I'm Swedish. /Jess
I don't know what other language/country the questioner meant. I chose a language at random for the post title. Sorry to disappoint.