Every year the programme supports the development of a new cohort of literary translators into English, particularly for languages whose literature is currently under-represented in English translation.

Now in its twelfth year, the scheme was founded by writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn and is organised by National Centre for Writing. It has so far supported 108 translators in more than 35 languages.

Rebecca DeWald, Programme Manager at NCW, said:

‘We are very pleased to announce this year’s 14 emerging literary translators, and what a truly international cohort it is: from the UK to Denmark, Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Ukraine. What unites them all, beside a passion for moulding foreign-language words into English-language texts, is that they dazzled their mentors with their skills, passion and choice of translation projects. We are working with first-time mentors and former mentees, with International Booker shortlistee and winners alike, who are all poised to provide their mentees with the perfect foundations from which to soar into the literary translation world.’

The winners of the 2022-2023 Emerging Literary Translator Mentorships Programme are:

• Anandita Budiman and Sekar Larasati – Indonesian (Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize), mentored by Khairani Barokka
• Antonella Lettieri – Italian, mentored by Howard Curtis
• Cat Anderson – Japanese, mentored by Juliet Winters Carpenter
• Claire Gullander-Drolet – Québec French, mentored by Sarah Ardizzone
• Dawid Mobolaji Akala – Polish, mentored by Sean Gasper Bye
• Emyr Wallace Humphreys – Welsh (Visible Communities mentorship), mentored by Meena Kandasamy
• Gene Png – Korean, mentored by Anton Hur
• Hazel Evans – Danish, mentored by Paul Russell Garrett
• Ibrahim Sayed Fawzy – Arabic, mentored by Sawad Hussain
• Megan Evans – Swedish, mentored by Nichola Smalley
• Olivia Blyth – Norwegian, mentored by Rosie Hedger
• Tetiana Savchynska – Ukrainian, mentored by Nina Murray
• Vaibhav Sharma – Hindi (Saroj Lal mentorship), mentored by Daisy Rockwell

Each mentee will be matched up with an experienced translator 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 winners will go on to join alumni such as former mentee and current mentor Nichola Smalley, whose translation of Andrzej Tichý’s Wretchedness was longlisted for the International Booker Prize and won the 2021 Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize, or Sophie Hughes, whose translations of Alia Trabucco Zerán’s The Remainder and Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season were shortlisted for the 2019 and the 2020 International Booker Prize.

Vaibhav Sharma, the recipient of the Hindi-Saroj Lal mentorship, said:

‘I applied to this mentorship program to learn the more intricate nuances of literary translation, as this mentorship provides me with the opportunity to work one-on-one with a professional literary translator, Daisy Rockwell. It will help me navigate the publishing industry better and boost my chances of getting published. It is also important to mention that the £500 bursary is helpful to translators like me who are just starting out in their careers.’

Claire Gullander-Drolet, a mentee translating from Québec French, said:

‘I applied to the Emerging Translators Mentorship because I am deeply passionate about translation, which I believe to be an art with a unique capacity for bridging people and cultures. I am overjoyed to learn more about the ins-and-outs of this practice from my mentor, Sarah Ardizzone, a career French-to-English translator whose own breadth of work—across a variety of genres, dialects, and forms—is truly staggering.’

Supported by Arts Council England, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, the Danish Arts Foundation, The Saroj Lal Mentorship, Harvill Secker, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Tadashi Yanai Initiative, the Literary Translation Institute of Korea, The Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Polish Cultural Institute, the Québec Government Office in London, the Swedish Arts Council, the British Centre for Literary Translation, British Council and Visible Communities.

Courtesy of the National Centre for Writing