The National Centre for Writing is seeking applications from translators into English for the 2022/23 NCW Emerging Translator Mentorship programme. An emerging translator is someone who has published no more than one full-length work of literary translation.
This year’s languages are:
- Arabic (mentored by Sawad Hussain).
- Danish (mentored by Paul Russell Garrett).
- Hindi – The Saroj Lal mentorship (mentored by Daisy Rockwell).
- Indonesian – Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize (mentored by Khairani Barokka).
- Italian (mentored by Howard Curtis).
- Japanese (mentored by Juliet Winters Carpenter).
- Korean (mentored by Anton Hur).
- Norwegian (mentored by Rosie Hedger).
- Polish (mentored by Sean Gasper Bye).
- Québec French or First Nations languages (mentored by Sarah Ardizzone); this mentorship is open to literary translators working from either one or more of the following languages: Québec French, Algonquin, Atikamekw, Cree, Innu, Inuktitut, Micmac, Mohawk and Naskapi.
- Swedish (mentored by Nichola Smalley).
- Ukrainian (mentored by Nina Murray).
The mentorship matches 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. The mentor acts as an adviser to the mentee on aspects of life as a professional translator, such as time management, meeting deadlines, managing finances and understanding contracts, and as an advocate for their mentee with publishers in search of literary translators.
Mentees receive a £500 bursary and reasonable travel expenses associated with the mentorship, which vary according to the relative geographical locations of the mentoring pair. The mentorship will include an online Industry Week with tailored training events and talks, access to UK industry events such as International Translation Day and attendance of the London Book Fair with a day-trip to NCW’s headquarters at Dragon Hall in Norwich, and a concluding digital showcase to amplify the translators’ work to wider audiences. Samples of mentees’ work will also be published in a print and digital anthology.
The mentoring period lasts for six months, from October 2022 to March 2023, with an additional in-person meeting in Norwich and London from 17-20 April 2023.
