A long way from the Galician book to the English-language market

English-language publications, numerically and strategically, constitute one of the two main markets of the global publishing sector. It’s also one of the hardest to break into, at least not in the UK: translations from other languages ​​barely represent 3% of the total. But little by little there are changes, such as the recent appearance of small independent labels, which open or lose attention to what is written in our other language widths, and include more so-called minority languages.

This week, several performers brought a multitude of voices to London, expressing themselves in Galician, Basque, Catalan, Asturian and Spanish. Around him, he led a discussion about strategies for the English public to learn about translations into their own language: the role of agencies and publishers, institutional assistance, cultural diplomacy and the activism of translators who often go beyond that. mediators between languages ​​and are authentic ambassadors of a culture that makes its own through adoption.

The latter is the case of Robin Mundy, a Liverpool-born translator who works from Russian and Spanish into English, but who has just added Asturian to that repertoire; I am now trying to translate and publish an Asturian literary work for the first time in English. Difficulties inherent in the process arise from the language’s lack of co-official status, an obstacle that Mundy compensates for with great enthusiasm.

The Welsh poet Susie Wild, forén, published as an editor four books by Basque authors, not only Parthians, for which she collaborated with the Etxepare Institute. Likewise, the Catalan actively promotes the internationalization of his literature from another specific body, namely the Ramón Llul Institute, which is present at the London Book Fair with a large stand where interviews and expert meetings were held throughout. The effort is to produce results: every year around twenty Catalan titles appear in English.

other literature

At the fair itself, Mundy and Wild explained their experiences in a conversation hosted by Olga Castro, professor at the University of Warwick and corresponding academic at RAG. For years he has been developing research projects on the internationalization and reception of Galician, Basque, Catalan and Asturian literature in the United Kingdom. In the case of Galicia, it was confirmed that the influence or the small size of moodis is their lower capacity to sell rights to non-foreign works, rights whose management is sometimes transferred to the authors themselves, who do not have the training or resources to supply them. A better understanding of the field market is also essential to refine proposals and increase the likelihood of success. A special and special contribution from the institutional side is considered a crucial need to overcome these difficulties.

Na procura two lectores: «What is the use of publishing a book if no one is blind to it?»

O longo camino two books in minority languages ​​such as Galician do not end with publication. In itself it is xa é complex, more or less to complete the logical goal of all works: to add readers. “What good is publishing a book if no one is blind to it?” asked Rosie Goldsmith. On behalf of Acción Cultural España, Ainhoa ​​​​Sánchez explained to Cervantes that the entity’s helplines do not only charge for translations and publications (along with performances for agencies and publishers), but there are special ones for organizing promotional tours of the author and strengthening his foreign presence.

Special issue of “The Riveter” on multilingual Spain

On Friday, the Instituto Cervantes de Londres gathered an evening on the multilingual panorama of Spain, which also focuses on the latest issue of the literary magazine Nailer. Supported by various institutions, including Xunta, the number represents a global vision that does not lack the established names of Almudena Grandes, Marías, Cercas and Vila-Matas, but also refers to writing in our other languages. In the case of Galicia, Eva Moreda offers a brief, more precise analysis of the current sector. Jonathan Dunne draws on his experience as a translator and editor at Small Stations. There are reviews about Memories dun neno labrego (translated by John Rutherford), Neira Vilas; And veiga is like a different tempo (by Craig Patterson), from Moreda; and The Last Days of Newfoundland, by Manuel Rivas, in the Jacob Rogers version. From the latter, who came to spend last March in literary residence in Coruña in 1863, they include copies of his recent translations into Galician, including by Bert Dávila and Ana Cabaleiro.

This is exactly one of the goals Nailer, then to its director, Rosie Goldsmith, and to this issue’s guest editor, translator Katie Whittemore: that these fragments are the first step to getting the books fully published in English. An effort to contribute to another platform that exists in Cervantes’ work, Translators Aloud, a YouTube channel that was created in 2020 and has published 400 videos in which about 300 translators show their work.