The NEA announced that 16 translators will share $275,000 in grants this year, picked for the government agency’s prestigious Literature Fellowships for Translation Projects.
The fellowship recipients live around the world, from New York to Colorado to Ireland. Among the many translators receiving grants, author Charlotte Mandell received a $25,000 grant to translate “Zone” by Mathias Énard.
Here’s more about the massive task of translating “Zone,” from the release: Written in a single sentence and based on the structure of The Iliad, Zone is more than 500 pages long, and was a critical success in France when published in 2008. The narrative unfolds during a train journey from Milan to Rome, and interweaves the narrator’s experiences in the war in Yugoslavia with other stories of war — from the Trojan War to World War II to present-day clashes.” (Via Three Percent)