Rochester鈥檚 literary translation press edited and published two of the longlisted books for the organization鈥�s 2024 Barrios Book in Translation Prize.
Keep your fingers crossed: Two books, edited and published by , the nonprofit, literary translation press at the听, have made it onto the longlist for the . The honor is awarded annually by the .
听(Open Letter, October 2024) by , a work of fiction translated from Spanish by Will Vanderhyden 鈥�13 (MA), and the nonfiction book 听(Open Letter, September 2024) by the late , translated from Croatian by Ellen Elias-Bursa膰, both made in onto the so-called longlist, which comprises a select group of only 12 books. The winner will be announced around March 21 of next year.
Chad Post, who heads up听Open Letter, is pleased about snagging two nominations this year鈥攗nderstandably so: The University鈥檚 translation press, while small, boasts a surprisingly large number of winning books and authors, among them Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse (2023) and National Book Award鈥搘inning translator Elisa Shua Dusapin听(2021).
A Rochester home for (most of) Ugresic鈥檚 translated oeuvre
鈥淚 published Dubravka first in 2003 with at Dalkey,鈥� says Post, who also manages the editorial activities at听. Over the course of the next twenty years, the two鈥攁uthor and publisher鈥攂ecame good friends. Incidentally, her book was the first book听Open Letter ever published.
Subsequently, Open Letter became the home for all of 鈥攑ast and future, except for three that are still under copyright with other presses. All told, Ugresic has penned more than a dozen books, including (Open Letter, 2011), which was a .
Politics, of course, has a way of seeping into the lives of authors and their literature. In 1991, when war broke out in the former Yugoslavia, Ugresic took a firm anti-nationalistic stand for which she was vilified in the Croation press, proclaimed a 鈥渢raitor,鈥� a As a result, she left Croatia in 1993 for the Netherlands, where she died in 2023, but not without using the experience for her latest book, published in translation posthumously.
The careful reader may have noticed that the National Book Critics Circle鈥檚 nomination announcement had two accents on Ugresic鈥檚 name, spelling it Ugre拧i膰. Yet all her omit the accents.
鈥淎s Dubravka said many times, 鈥業 don鈥檛 care how my name is pronounced and I don鈥檛 want all those little guys scaring off readers,鈥欌�� Post recalls the author鈥檚 relaxed attitude vis-脿-vis her name.
Rochester-trained alumnus nabs translation nomination
The second nominated work, , has not one but two Rochester connections: Open Letter is its publisher and Vanderhyden, the translator, is an alumnus of the .
It鈥檚 precisely the work of literary translators that render international literature accessible to a wider audience. When selecting a foreign author to be published in translation, several factors come into play, according to Post. Just as important as the literary quality of the work itself is the translator attached to a particular book or author.
Post鈥檚 work almost always has a personal dimension. He taught (budding translator) Vanderhyden in two of his classes at Rochester鈥� and . And while Post had met听Fres谩n years ago, it was only when Vanderhyden promoted the author in one of his classes that Post started paying closer attention.
Vanderhyde鈥檚 interest in Fres谩n听was serendipitous at first. Back in 2010, his brother had given him a copy of , Fres谩n鈥檚 only novel in English up听until that point. Vanderhyden loved the book and felt a strong听affinity for its听references and style鈥攁 kind of synthesis of his own reading interests. The timing proved fortuitous, coinciding with his growing interest in translation.
鈥淲hen I learned that none of his other books had been translated into English, I decided to take a stab at translating him myself,鈥� says Vanderhyden. A couple of years later, after earning his master鈥檚 in literary translation studies at Rochester, he pitched his translation of to Post, which would become the 100th title translated by Open Letter.
Today the three of them are friends and Open Letter publishes now all of 鈥攕ix to date.
In fact, Vanderhyden and Fres谩n have worked together on every one of his translated books. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all a team,鈥� says Post emphatically. 鈥淚 would never ask anyone else to translate Fres谩n, and Rodrigo wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way.鈥�
In Melvill (the author added the 鈥渆鈥� later), Fres谩n writes about American novelist Herman Melville (1819鈥�1891), best known for his 1851 epic novel . Fres谩n鈥檚 approach is a work of fiction鈥攁n invented biography, a gothic novel of sorts, populated by ghosts. Open Letter bills it as听鈥渁n evocation of a filial love,鈥� containing 鈥渁ll the talent, humor, and immense culture found in the other great works from one of Spanish literature鈥檚 most ambitious writers.鈥�
Open Letter鈥檚 podcast Two Month Review featured Vanderhyden about translating Fres谩n鈥檚 style. More episodes about the book can be found online at Three Percent, a resource for international literature at the 人妻少妇专区.
鈥淪ussing out and recreating the underlying patterns鈥� that make a writer鈥檚 style come alive in English are probably the biggest general challenges for a translator, according to Vanderhyden.
When it comes to Fres谩n, Vanderhyden is 鈥減retty familiar with his style鈥� and has a level of comfort and confidence with translating it. 鈥淏ut tracking down his incessant literary and pop culture references and recreating his ludic sensibility鈥攈is sense of humor, his tireless wordplay鈥攊n English are and will always be particularly challenging aspects of translating his work,鈥� Vanderhyden says.
A challenge Venderhyden readily accepts鈥攁nd that the National Book Critics Circle clearly noticed. We鈥檒l know more come March. Until then, fingers crossed, tightly please.
