Embarrassment of Riches Department

It’s been almost a full year since I last posted on this blog, but I have some news that I think rates more than a Facebook post: I’m going to have three translations published in 2016, all in the spring: in March, Tomáš Zmeškal’s Love Letter in Cuneiform, for the Margellos World Republic of Letters at Yale University Press; in April, Josef Jedlička’s Midway Upon the Journey of Our Life, for Karolinum Press (ignore the mistaken title; I changed it after this web page was made); and in May, Magdaléna Platzová’s The Attempt, for Bellevue Literary Press. More news to come, obviously, but I wanted to get word out as soon as possible. It’s going to be a busy year. Sláva!

Note: Since I currently serve as cochair of the PEN America Translation Committee, and in this capacity promote to both translators and publishers the model contract for literary translation, which among other things states that “the translator’s name shall appear on the cover,” no doubt some inquiring minds are wondering why my name is absent from two of the three covers above. In the case of the Karolinum book, the answer is that it should be there and the fact that it is not is an oversight on the part of the designer, which I have pointed out to the publisher. In the case of the Bellevue book, the answer is that my name will appear on the back cover, but not the front. This was the agreement I reached in the course of my negotiations with the publisher, in which we each met the other halfway on a variety of points where we started from different positions. It was the longest negotiation I have ever had, and to be honest, probably also the most satisfying one, because of the obvious respect and understanding we had for each other throughout. Every contract is a negotiation. That is the first and most important thing to know for a translator entering into a contract with a publisher.

Department of Czech Literary Yields, Continued

What We Saw in 2013 and What We’ll See in 2014

As I wrote in June, I’ve started a database of Czech lit in translation — not going all the way back, mind you, but just to keep track of what’s come out since the end of communism (I may also include a few books from ’89 and before, just for the sake of reference). It’s mainly for myself, but I figured there must be at least a few other people out there who are interested.

Random stack of Czech books from librarything.com

Here’s what I’ve got so far: http://bit.ly/1dQfwDF. Please do write and let me know if you’re aware of any books I’ve missed.

And as far as I can tell, here’s what we’ve got to look forward to in English translation from Czech over the next 12 months (pub dates based on bookstore websites, rather than publishers’ sites, which aren’t always updated as often):

• February: Aaron’s Leap, by Magdaléna Platzová, trans. Craig Cravens (Bellevue Literary Press), and Marketa Lazarová, by Vladislav Vančura, trans. Carleton Bulkin (Twisted Spoon Press). [N.B. The latter has been pushed back several times from its original date of spring/March 2013, so whether or not the Feb. date will hold is anybody’s guess.]
• March: Rambling On: An Apprentice’s Guide to the Gift of the Gab, by Bohumil Hrabal, trans. David Short, and Of Mice and Mooshaber, by Ladislav Fuks, trans. Mark Corner (both Karolinum Press).
• May: Harlequin’s Millions, by Bohumil Hrabal, trans. Stacey Knecht (Archipelago Books), and Nightwork, by Jáchym Topol, trans. Marek Tomin (Portobello Books). 

For those of you into statistics, note the expected yield for 2014 (six books) is 50 percent higher than it was this year (four books).