New mentorship opportunity for literary translators of Faroese into English

National Centre for Writing announces new mentorship opportunities for literary translators who identify as chronically ill and translators of Faroese into English.

Part of the prestigious Emerging Translator Mentorships programme 24/25

National Centre for Writing (NCW) has announced the languages for its 2024/25 Emerging Translator Mentorships programme, including a new mentorship offer for applicants who identify as chronically ill and a mentorship for translators of Faroese into English.  

Now in its fifteenth year, the programme aims to develop successive new cohorts of literary translators into English, particularly for languages whose literature is currently under-represented in English translation.

The languages are:

·       Arabic – mentored by Sawad Hussain

·       Faroese – mentored by Marita Thomsen

·       Italian – mentored by Elena Pala

·       Japanese – mentored by Polly Barton

·       Korean – mentored by Clare Richards

·       Lithuanian – mentored by Kotryna Garanasvili

·       Polish – mentored by Sean Gasper Bye

·       Languages of Singapore – mentored by Jeremy Tiang

·       Mentorship for a chronically ill Translator – mentored by Annie Rutherford

The programme is open to emerging translators at no cost to them. An emerging translator is someone who has published no more than one full-length work of literary translation. MFA and MA students in translation can apply, but priority may be given to those who do not have access to the kind of guidance already present in a translation degree programme.

Though English is the target language, the emerging translator need not live in the UK (apart from the mentorship for chronically ill translators).

Annie Rutherford, Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme Manager at NCW, said:

‘It's always a joy to be able to pair up promising emerging translators with established literary translators, through mentorships which see our mentees grow in skills, knowledge and confidence. We're delighted this year to be continuing several longstanding partnerships, as well as to be launching new ones, and are particularly thrilled to be offering a mentorship for an emerging translator from Faroese for the very first time, supported by FarLit, as part of our commitment to promoting languages under-represented in English translation.’

Established by writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn in 2010, the Emerging Translator Mentorships programme matches up experienced translators with emerging translators for a six-month period during which they work together on practical translation projects, developing their craft through working on a chosen text or texts. Mentees also receive a £800 stipend and access to dedicated weekends of training and talks, UK industry events such as International Translation Day and London Book Fair, and a digital showcase and anthology publication.  

For the first time, a Faroese mentorship is now on offer, an exciting opportunity for translators of Faroese into English, to be mentored by Marita Thomsen.

Marita Thomsen said:

 ‘The number of people who speak Faroese is equivalent to the capacity of Old Trafford stadium. Still, every year more than one hundred original titles are published in this tongue. The only way to the Faroe Islands is across the North Atlantic, and the only way into, or out of, Faroese culture is through translation. The inclusion of Faroese in the Emerging Translator Mentorship programme is an incredible opportunity for anyone smitten by the stories of this archipelago. I can’t wait to meet and work with a fellow literary adventurer, who is looking to pilot visitors between skerries to discover what grows out of old salt-tinged tales under open horizons with 5G connectivity.’

Alumni of the programme have gone on to feature on prize lists and received major awards, such as Kate Webster, whose translation of Urszula Honek’s White Nights was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2024. Sophie Hughes’ translations of Alia Trabucco Zerán’s The Remainder and Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season were shortlisted for the 2019 and the 2020 International Booker Prize, respectively.

The programme is open to emerging translators at no cost to them. The deadline for receipt of entries is 11.59pm BST on Monday 26 August 2024. For full details and entry criteria visit https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/translators/etm/

The Emerging Translator Mentorships programme is supported by Arts Council England, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Literary Translation Institute of Korea, the Polish Cultural Institute, Lithuanian Culture Institute, FarLit, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, Society of Authors and the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at UCLA and Waseda University.