Thursday 15 July 2010

OYEZ! OYEZ! Last call for entries in Harvill Secker's Young Translators' Prize

This just in from Harvill Secker's publicity department:

LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES!

Only a few weeks left to enter HARVILL SECKER’s
prestigious new prize for young translators

The Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize has already received lots of entries from budding translators - we are sending out last call for entrants to make sure no one misses out. The deadline for entries is 31st July 2010.

The annual Young Translators’ Prize will be presented to a translator at the start of their career and will focus on a different language each year.


Harvill Secker, part of The Random House Group, launched the prize on April 19th= in conjunction with Waterstone’s, to celebrate 100 years of publishing quality translation. In 2010 – the inaugural year – the chosen language is Spanish and entrants will be asked to translate ‘El hachazo’, a short story by the Argentine writer Matías Néspolo.
The short story and details on how to enter can be found at
www.harvillseckeryoungtranslatorsprize.com. The prize is open to anyone between the ages of 16 and 34, with no restriction on country of residence.


The winner’s name will be announced at the FreeWord Centre during aspecial evening event on 30 September 2010. The winning translator will receive £1000, a selection of Harvill Secker titles and Waterstone’s books.
One of the judges, Margaret Jull Costa (translator), commented ‘There are very few prizes open to the young, unpublished translator, who is either trying to get a toehold in the world of literary translation or who simply loves translating. All praise to Harvill Secker, then, for instigating this Young Translators’ Prize.’


The other judges are Nicholas Shakespeare (author) and Briony Everroad (editor). Prize founder, Briony Everroad comments, ‘I think translation is terribly important, and excellence in the field can often pass unnoticed. The aim of this prize is to encourage a new generation of talent, and I hope that it will provide a much-needed opportunity for young translators to gain wider recognition for their work.’


For more information please contact:
Sue Amaradivakara, Harvill Secker publicity
email: samaradivakara@randomhouse.co.uk