Deadline: June 1, 2022.
PEN AMERICA GRANT FOR THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ITALIAN LITERATURE ($5,000)
The PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature awards a $5,000 grant to a translator for a work-in-progress of a book-length translation of an Italian work of literary fiction or nonfiction into English. The grant operates within the existing PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants which are offered annually to promote the publication of translated world literature in English.
This grant was awarded for the first time during the 2017 PEN Literary Awards cycle.
ELIGIBILITY AND SUBMISSIONS
A recipient is selected from the PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant applicant pool. Please see the eligibility and submission guidelines for the PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants for information on how to apply. Any applicant who submits to the PEN/Heim Translation Fund grants whose project is a translation of narrative prose from the Italian into English is automatically considered for the PEN Grant for the Translation of Italian Literature.
Who is eligible for the PEN AMERICA GRANT FOR THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ITALIAN LITERATURE
- The PEN/Heim Translation Fund provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English in print or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation.
- Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion.
- There are no restrictions on the nationality or citizenship of the translator, but the works must be translated into English.
- The Fund seeks to encourage translators to undertake projects they might not otherwise have had the means to attempt.
- Anthologies with multiple translators, works of literary criticism, and scholarly or technical texts do not qualify.
- Translators who have previously been awarded grants by the Fund are ineligible to reapply for three years after the year in which they receive a grant.
- Please note that projects that have been previously submitted and have not received a grant are unlikely to be reconsidered in a subsequent year.
- Projects may have up to two translators.
- Translators may only submit one project per year.
How to apply:
Translators must complete the below applications form by 11:59 PM (EST) June 1, 2022. The below application will require the following materials. Please use a standard 12pt font with 1 inch margins.
1. The application form, with all items completed:
- A 1-2 page, single-spaced statement outlining the work and describing its importance.
- A biography and bibliography of the original author, including information on translations of their work into other languages.
- A CV of the translator, no longer than 3 pages.
- If the book is not in the public domain and the project is not yet under contract, please include a photocopy of the copyright notice on the original (the copyright notice is a line including the character ©, a date, and the name of the copyright holder, which appears as part of the front matter in every book), and a letter from the copyright holder stating that English-language rights to the book are available. A letter or copy of an email from the copyright holder is sufficient.
- If the translation is currently under contract with a publisher, please submit a copy of the contract.
2. An 8–10 page, single-spaced sample of the translation. For prose, this should be within the range of 3,000-5,000 words. For poetry, please include 1-2 poems per page, within the 8–10 page range.
3. The same passage in the original language (and, if the work has been previously translated, the same passage in the earlier version).
