Catalan literature boom
Catalan works now being translated in unprecedented numbers
Books by local authors penetrating international markets thanks to efforts of Ramon Lull Institute
In 2014, the Llull awarded grants of 220,000 euro for translations
It is a project that began years ago and is being carried out by a team of professionals from different sectors coordinated under the umbrella of the Ramon Llull Institute. The fact is that this joint effort has borne fruit and Catalan literature is today known abroad as never before, with over a hundred translations per year, most of which receive economic support from the Llull.
The presence of Catalan culture as a guest at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair in 2007 marked a before and after, and since then the number of translations has increased progressively. In the words of Àlex Susanna, director of the Llull, “Despite the crisis, Catalan literature has remained competitive and increased its presence abroad, both the classics and contemporary literature”. The positive critical reception of books by Josep Pla, Mercè Rodoreda and Joan Sales “reveals the great interest that Catalan literature is arousing.”
A significant fact stands out in the recent development of translations from Catalan: after Spanish, the second most popular target language is now English. “It is traditionally a very difficult market to penetrate and we have managed to translate between ten and fifteen new texts each year,” said Susanna. After English, the third most popular target language is Italian (10 books translated in 2014), Polish (8) and French (8), a language “which we have always translated into”.
Children's literature
A new line that will receive economic support this year is the translation of children's literature, with one eye on the Bologna Children's Book Fair in April, the most important of its kind. The Llull also aims to increase the international participation of Catalan poets via its presence at major European festivals, and in 2016 it is expected to participate as guest of honour at the Warsaw Book Fair, although whether representing Barcelona, Catalonia or Catalan literature it is not yet known.
New Bernard Lesfargues library at Llull
Located at the Ramon Llull Institute (Palau del Baró de Quadras), the new Bernard Lesfargues library was inaugurated yesterday afternoon in the presence of Lesfargues himself, dean of Catalan literature translations abroad, and Peter Bush, native English translator recently awarded the Ramon Llull Literary Translation Prize for his translation of Josep Pla's “The grey notebook”. The library contains works subsidized by the Llull Institute, from the historical archive of translations at the Institute of Catalan Letters, donations from foreign publishers and specific acquisitions. In total, the catalogue contains 8,427 entries, of which 4,324 are translations into 66 languages. The opening ceremony was a homage to the translator, “our greatest ambassador”, according to Susanna, and in particular Lesfargues, “he discovered Catalan through Mercè Rodoreda and Sales,” Susanna said yesterday.