Elke Wehr — one of Germany’s best known Spanish translators — died last Friday in Berlin, at age 62, according to Suhrkamp Publishers of Frankfurt. Wehr gained notoriety with her translations of key works by Javier Marías of Spain, Mario Vargas Llosa of Peru, Julio Cortázar of Argentina, and Octavio Paz of Mexico, among others. In 2006, she was awarded the Paul Celan Prize by the German Literary Fund in recognition of her works, particularly her translation of Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos’ masterpiece Yo, el Supremo which was considered the most difficult adaption.

She was not only an extraordinary translator, but also took it upon herself to discover new authors, according to Jürgen Dormagen of Suhrkamp. Wehr’s last translation was the novel Los días azules by Colombian author Fernando Vallejo, whose German edition will be published this August.

UNESCO has just announced that its first update of the world translation bibliography of Index Translationum for the year 2008 is now online, featuring some 75,000 new entries from Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Finland, France, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.

This edition of Index Translationum contains some 1,800,000 references (from 1979 to now) on all subjects. Offered are all manner of ways to sort the data—many of them surprising and, as often happens with data, difficult to interpret.

Submissions are now being accepted for TransLit Volume 8, a special themed issue titled “Poetry and Short Stories of the Americas” that will be published in spring 2009 by the Literary Translation Collective of the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Alberta (ATIA) in cooperation with the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada (LTAC).

Interested translators may submit a short (<2500 words) translation to or from one of the four main languages of the Americas (English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese) or any indigenous language along with the original text. The original or translation must be in English or French. The submission should include brief biographies of the translator and the author, permission to publish from the author and publisher, and bibliographical data for the original.

Send submissions by July 1, 2008 to:

Editors, TransLit Volume 8
School of Translation and Interpretation
University of Ottawa
Arts Building, 4th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
CANADA K1N 6N5

Contact editors Marc Charron or Luise von Flotow for more information.

Source, the Newsletter of the ATA’s Literary Division, will take the form of an online newsletter and has issued a call for submissions for its August 2008 issue.

The newsletter provides “a forum for activities, issues, and humor pertaining to the tricky craft of literary translation.” It seeks contributions of general interest to literary translators: reviews, news, articles of general interest, interviews, photos, cartoons, fora, and conundra.

If you would like to host a regular column or wish to contribute to the August issue—deadline for submissions is June 15—contact Editor Michele Aynesworth.

The PEN American Center has announced the winner of this year’s Translation Prize, and it couldn’t have gone to a more accomplished translator. This year’s award goes to Margaret Jull Costa for her translation into English from the Portuguese of The Maias (New Directions) by Eça de Queirós.

From the judges’ citation:

Over the years Margaret Jull Costa has produced a number of notable translations of the fiction of Eça de Queirós, the great Portuguese novelist, who is widely considered to be one of the major European novelists of the 19th century, often ranked with Flaubert, Balzac, Dickens, and Tolstoy. Most recently, Margaret Jull Costa turned her hand to Os Maias, Eça de Queirós’s greatest work, and the results are stunning. The sensuous elegance of the prose vividly captures the greatness of the original, bringing the novel to life for the reader in a way only the most masterful of translations can do. Clearly a labor of love, Margaret Jull Costa’s brilliant translation of The Maias stands as a masterpiece in its own right. Eça de Queirós lives in English!

In observance of World in Translation Month, the American Literary Translation Association (ALTA) has created a poster that contains a quotation from scholar, theologian, and bibliophile Miles Smith (1554-1624), known for his mastery of Biblical languages. Smith was an integral participant in the translation and publication of the King James Version of the Bible. Download the poster (pdf), print up a couple, and post them on your favorite bulletin boards.

Related:
> Wikipedia article on Miles Smith
> Who were the King James Version translators?

Michael Blumenthal will speak at the American Translators Association Spanish Language Division Conference, which will be held March 28-30 in Philadelphia. The abstract of his bilingual presentation, titled “The Pancreas: Function and Dysfunction,” follows:

Homeostasis, the dynamic balance of neurological and chemical processes in the human body, is maintained by constant feedback and regulation involving the brain, nervous tissues, and a great number of glands and organs. One important and essential organ that helps maintain homeostasis that many translators and interpreters do not know much about is the pancreas. Pathological conditions of the pancreas can be chronic or acutely life threatening. The goals of this workshop include: identify the pancreatic anatomical structures with which medical translators and interpreters must be familiar; discuss function and dysfunction of the pancreas including pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, and diabetes; become familiar with the most common diagnostic and laboratory tests; and provide a useful Spanish<>English glossary of terms.

Beginning literary translators may now apply for travel funds to attend the 2008 conference of the American Literary Translators Association in Minneapolis/St.Paul, Minnesota, on October 15–18. To apply, send a letter that includes the applicant’s curriculum vitae, ten double-spaced pages of translation into English, and the original foreign language text to:

ALTA Travel Fellowship Award c/o UTDallas 800 W. Campbell Road - JO51 Richardson, TX 75020-3021 Attention: Lindy Jolly

Application deadline is May 15.