AATIA is seeking active members to run for all positions on its 2010 Board of Directors ("associate" members are not eligible). Nominees must be in good standing (dues current as of July 1, 2009). Elections take place in October and are announced in November. The term is for one full year, from January 1 through December 31, 2010.

The AATIA Board of Directors consists of six members:

• President
• Secretary
• Communications
• Finance
• Membership
• Professional Development

If you are interested in running for office, or would like to nominate someone else, please contact a Nominating Committee member by August 28, 2009: AATIA Nominating Committee: Marian Schwartz, Chair, 512/442-5100, schwartzm@sbcglobal.net Laura Vlasman, 512/891-9207, lvlasman@earthlink.net, Anna Hovenden, 512/590-3822 ahovenden@yahoo.com

The excellence of AATIA is a result of strong and continuing member participation, particularly by its many excellent Board members over the years. As AATIA leaders, Board members not only make a contribution to their profession but gain knowledge and experience in the fields of translation and interpretation and are given countless opportunities to network and develop lasting relationships with other professionals.

The Texas Institute of Letters has named AATIA member Marian Schwartz’s translation of White Guard a finalist for the Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Translation.  The winner will be announced at TIL’s April 18 annual meeting at the Hilton Waco Hotel.

Don’t miss the all-star cast of Macondo Writers Liliana Valenzuela, Vicente Lozano, and Gregg Barrios who will perform during the San Antonio arts celebration Luminaria. They will perform from 7:10 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Convention Center Galleries on Saturday, March 14, 2009 (details).

In the Winter issue of SOURCE, the newsletter for ATA’s Literary Division — edited by AATIA’s own Michele Aynesworth — Tony Beckwith, another AATIA stalwart, makes a return appearance with his By the Way column and BTW cartoon. Special features include an interview with Arnie Johnston, whose translations of Jacques Brel lyrics made such a splash at the last ALTA conference; Mark Herman’s look at strategies for translating names in opera (that’s Bo-RIS, not BO-ris); and a machine translation of an Argentine zamba ("Knock-kneed, I sing to you") guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye.

As an AATIA member, I occasionally wonder what’s in it for me. I ask myself what benefit I derive from paying my dues to the Association, especially at this time of year when I am deciding whether or not to renew my membership.

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The Winter 2009 issue of Chtenia, "Winter Holidays," is rich with stories of hope, expectation, miracles, and holidays, from authors including Gogol, Dostoyevsky, Kuprin, Ustinova, and Zoshchenko, and with a story by Olga Slavnikova, “Love in Train Car No. 7,” translated by AATIA’s Marian Schwartz.

There are stories of angels, Christmas parties, yolkas, movies, trains, love, and so much more. And of course there are poems, photos, memoirs, and even a bit of history on the origins of Ded Moroz and Snegurochka.

To order this issue for just $12, click here.

AATIA’s November 8 meeting will introduce the newly elected 2009 Board of Directors. Come meet the leadership and  suggest program ideas, and workshop topics, and other activities for the coming year.

The networking break will feature special refreshments from one of Austin’s best bakeries, Sweetish Hill. After the break outgoing Professional Development director Maurine McLean will discuss American Sign Language.

Join us at the Austin History Center, 9th and Guadalupe, at 1 pm this Saturday, November 8, and bring along a language-loving friend.

As announced on her new website, Marian Schwartz will read from her new translation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel White Guard at 7 pm on Friday, November 7th, at BookPeople ( 603 N. Lamar).