Metaglossia: The Translation World

M-Net has revealed the shortlists for its prestigious M-Net Literary Awards , the only South African book awards that honour well-crafted novels in all our official languages.

M-Net has revealed the shortlists for its prestigious M-Net Literary Awards, the only South African book awards that honour well-crafted novels in all our official languages. The winners, who will each receive a cash prize of R50 000, will be announced on Friday, 19 October in Johannesburg.

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“Judging by the number of entries for this year’s M-Net Literary Awards, it would seem that South African readers are spoilt for choice and that the printed word is holding its own in the digital age,” says Hettie Scholtz, convenor of the M-Net Literary Awards.

A total of 85 titles were submitted this year - an indication that the South African publishing industry and in particular the novel, is fit and healthy in spite of severe pressure from economic and electronic spheres.

According to Scholtz, entries spoke of mature authorship, with youthful and daring storylines that both surprised and delighted the judges. “Narrowing down the selection to a long list of 15 was not difficult. However, deciding on the final five in each of the categories proved quite daunting.”

The top novels that finally made it onto the respective shortlists: (in alphabetical order according to the author’s surname)

English:
Homemaking for the Down-at-heart - Finuala Dowling (Kwela Books)
Lost Ground - Michiel Heyns (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
The Landscape Painter - Craig Higginson (Picador Africa)
Shooting Angels - Christopher Hope (Atlantic Books)
Nineveh - Henrietta Rose-Innes (Umuzi)

A la suite de l’écrivain congolais et ambassadeur de l’Unesco, Henri Lopès, qui était l’invité d’honneur du Prix Ivoire 2011, ce sont les écrivains Alain Mabanckou (Congo-Brazzaville) et Jacques Chevrier (France) qui seront les invités d’honneur de la cérémonie de distinction dénommée ‘’Prix Ivoire pour la littérature africaine d’expression francophone 2012’’. Qui aura lieu le 1er décembre 2012 à Abidjan, placée sous la présidence du Ministre de la Culture et de la Francophonie. Alain Mabanckou est lauréat du grand prix de la littérature Henri Gal, Prix de l’Institut de France décerné par l'Académie Française. Quant à Jacques Chevrier, il est un universitaire français et par ailleurs, président de l'Association des écrivains de langue française, vice-président du Cercle Richelieu Senghor, directeur du Centre international d'études francophones (Université Paris IV ), puis, professeur émérite à l'Université Paris IV - Sorbonne. Il est aussi membre associé du Centre de recherche en littérature comparée à l'Université Paris IV - Sorbonne. Selon Isabelle Kassi Fofana, présidente de l’Association Akwaba Culture, structure initatrice dudit concours, les différents accords de principe ont été acquis pour permettre à ces écrivains d’effectuer le dépalcement d’Abidjan. Sur les trente-quatre (34) titres présentés par seize (16) maisons d’édition d’Afrique noire et du Nord, le pré-jury composé des critiques littéraires Michel Koffi, Auguste Gnaléhi et Henri N’Koumo, chargé de la sélection des ouvrages admis pour la finale du Prix Ivoire 2012 a retenu six (6) auteurs. A savoir le Tchadien Souleyman Abdelkérim Cherif, ‘’Quand l’évidence ne suffit plus’’ (roman, éd. L’Harmattan, 2012, 216 p.), les Sénégalais Ben Diagoye Beye, ‘’Le rêve de Latricia’’ (éd. Panafrika/Silex/Nouvelles du Sud, roman, 2011, 266 p.), Mariama Ndoye, ‘’L’Arbre s’est penché’’, roman, éd. Eburnie 2011, 129 p.), l’Ivoirienne Muriel Diallo, ‘’La Femme du Blanc’’ (roman, éd. Vents d’ailleurs, 2011, 184 p.), les Marocains Youssouf Amine Elalamy, ‘’Oussama mon amour’’ (roman, éd. La croisée des chemins, 2011, 187 p.) et Souad Mekkaoui, ‘’Plus forte que la souffrance’’ (éd. La croisée des chemins, nouvelles, 2012, 244 p.).

L’association des écrivains de langue française a attribué à Véronique Tadjo le Grand Prix Littéraire d’Afrique Noire. Véronique Tadjo, d’origine ivoirienne a fait un véritable travail d’intellectuel, sur le génocide rwandais et sur la Reine Pokou, un des mythes fondateurs de l’histoire des ethnies de la Côte d’Ivoire. Les deux œuvres littéraires de Véronique Tadjo ont été publiées dans 8 pays africains. Autrement dit, ce qui a retenu mon attention, c’est bien le livre sur la Reine Pokou, considéré comme un véritable document des mythes et origines du peuple baoulé. Les critiques littéraires ,à l’époque, ont estimé que le livre sur la Reine Pokou était une réalité subtile, surtout inspirée par la notion «d’ivoirité», cause de nombreux soubresauts politiques que la Côte d’Ivoire avait connus. Le contenu du livre de Véronique Tadjo était évocateur : tenez-vous bien : Véronique Tadjo écrit que le vrai nom de la Reine Pokou est «Abraha Pokou» et non Abra Pokou. L’histoire est évocatrice quand Véronique Tadjo disait que le Ghana était la terre des ancêtres de la Reine «Abraha Pokou» et celle-ci avait quitté le Ghana à la suite d’une querelle de succession au trône. Véronique Tadjo avait affirmé que c’est dans sa fuite que «Abraha Pokou» arrive au bord du fleuve Comoé en Côte d’Ivoire. Le fleuve en crue, «Abraham Pokou» jette son fils unique à l’eau, sacrifice qui avait permis à la Reine «Abraha Pokou» de passer le fleuve Comoé. «Baouli» signifie «L’enfant est mort» d’où est dérivé le nom du peuple baoulé. Véronique Tadjo a dit toute sa vérité : les Baoulés qui se proclament ivoiriens de souche viennent d’ailleurs. Et, moi personnellement, je suis toujours frustré de façon quotidienne, de ne jamais savoir, en quelle ethnie, la Reine «Abraha Pokou» disait «Baouli».

Kwela Books is proud to announce that three of its authors are included in the longlist for the 2012 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.

The authors are:

Kgebetle Moele (The Book of the Dead)
Sifiso Mzobe (Young Blood)
HJ Golakai (The Lazarus Effect)

L’Alliance Internationale des Éditeurs Indépendants vient de communiquer les deux titres lauréats du concours soutenu par la Fondation Prince Claus visant à récompenser deux projets de traduction et de coédition.

Le comité de sélection (composé des coordinateurs des réseaux linguistiques, du président de l’Alliance et d’un représentant de la Fondation Prince Claus) a souhaité récompenser les deux projets suivants :

Walaandé, l’art de partager un mari, de Djaïli Amadou Amal, publié originellement en français par les éditions Ifrikiya, (Cameroun)
http://translationsproposals.over-blog.com/article-walaande-the-art-of-shearing-husband-87984263.html

Ce 22 mai 2012, l'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) procédera à la remise du prix « Prix Internationale Kadima pour la promotion des langues africaines et créoles ». Il s'agit en fait de la 8e édition de cette haute récompense, depuis sa création.

Mais il convient d'abord de rappeler à l'opinion tant nationale qu'internationale qui fut Kadima Kamuleta Marcel.

L'homme est immense. Il est l'un des tout premiers universitaires congolais. Il est sorti de la toute première promotion des étudiants en linguistique de l'université de Louvain en Belgique en 1962.

AW YE KUNNAFONIW SƆRƆ BAMANANKAN NA YAN.

TWO books authored by locals in the Siswati language have received literary glory by being selected into the catalogue of classics by the South African Arts and Culture Department.
The National Library of South Africa, through its centre for the book division which seeks to promote the use of indigenous languages through speech and writing and other literary forms, selected ‘Hamba Kahle Mdikileni’ a novella authored by Mkhizo Austin Simelane (now late) and ‘Siphashaphasha’, a play which was written by former King’s Private Secretary Sam Mpopoli Mkhombe, to join 17 other classic books in indigenous African Southern African languages during a glittering three-day function held in Cape Town from the 7th to the 10th of March 2012.
privilege

Readers of this column will recall us saying the annual Burt Award for African Literature was going to be a major focus of Kenya’s literary calendar in 2012.

...

The award was inaugurated in Kenya in 2011 with writers being asked to write novels suitable for 12 to 18-year-olds. Writers were given nine months to submit ready manuscripts. There were 232 entries compared to Ethiopia which received 26 manuscripts while Tanzania received 12 manuscripts. Why this disparity? Sandra Mushi, a Tanzanian poet once told me that Dar es Salaam does not have platforms for English poetry like Nairobi. Many writers prefer Kiswahili as their medium of communication.

Ethiopia is the only country on the continent with an African language complete with its own developed alphabet and characters. Ethiopians study and write in local Amharic. But as students of Political Science will tell you, Ethiopia must endeavor to forestall internal conflicts, for if there should be suppression of freedoms, a fleeing journalist educated in Amharic cannot be employed by a Kenyan media house. The irony of writing in indigenous languages! The Burt Award for African Literature will surely spark interest in writers in these countries to begin writing in English.

Due to the volume of manuscripts, winners were not announced last year. They were announced randomly last week by NBDCK Chairman Prof Chris Wanjala as follows; The Devil’s Hill by Ngumi Kibera, Never Say Die by Anthony Mugo and The Delegates by Edward Mwangi. The ranking of these winners will be unveiled in September during the annual Book Week. Whichever way, a literary award should propel the author to a greater writing career. But there is cause for worry, where are the heirs to the memory of Grace Ogot, Asenath Bole-Odaga, Muthoni Likimani, Marjorie Macgoye-Oludhe and Zarina Patel, Miriam Were? Call for 2013 Burt Award is out. The focus is on readers between 12 to 15 years. Women writers where are you?

For many years, the field of Arabic-English translation was dominated by a very few. Denys Johnson-Davies, who Edward Said called “the leading Arabic-English translator of our times,” was the first professional Arabic-English translator.

The Endangered Language Fund offers grants for language maintenance as well as linguistic field work.

The work to be funded is that which caters both the native community and the field of linguistics. However, work which has instant applicability to one group and more distant application to the other will also be considered. Publishing subventions are at low priority but will also be considered. Proposals can originate in any country. The language involved must be in danger of disappearing within a generation or next. Endangerment is a continuum and the location on the continuum is one factor in our funding decisions.

Eligible expenses include consultant fees, tapes, films, travel and others as well. Overhead is not allowed. Grants are normally for a one year period though extensions may be applied for. We expect grants in this round to be less than $4,000 in size and to average about $2,000.

Researchers and language activists from any country are eligible to apply. Awards can be made to institutions but no administrative (overhead, indirect) costs are covered.

Applications must be received by April 20th, 2012.

For further information, visit the link.

Source Link: http://www.fundsforngos.org/indigenous-2/endangered-language-fund/#ixzz1k58yaT1w

The Endangered Language Fund offers grants for language maintenance as well as linguistic field work.
 The work to be funded is that which caters both the native community and the field of linguistics.