On 12 August, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the recommended recipients of $300,000 in grants. Twenty translators were the beneficiaries of this funding, earmarked by the NEA “to support the new translation of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry from 12 different languages into English.”

The NEA has been supporting the important art of translation since 1981. During that time, it has offered 412 fellowships for translating literature from 86 countries, spanning 66 different languages.

This year, the NEA awards coincided with its publication of a delightful new book of essays devoted to celebrating the important role played by translated literature. The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation brings together 19 translators and supporters of translation work, reflecting on the practice of translation: a higher calling to which they share a passionate devotion.

The types of projects awarded this year offer a glimpse at the wide range of translation work the NEA supports. One fellowship is going to Jeffrey Yang of Beacon, New York, to help translate City Gate Open Up, a lyrical autobiography by poet Bei Dao, originally in Chinese. Another recipient is Niloufar Talebi of San Francisco, California, who will be working on a translation of the Persian-language works of Iranian writer and poet Ahmad Shamlou, a Nobel Prize nominee. More.

See: PopMatters

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