{"id":6330,"date":"2011-06-24T06:30:54","date_gmt":"2011-06-23T18:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=6330"},"modified":"2011-06-23T21:34:31","modified_gmt":"2011-06-23T09:34:31","slug":"2011-science-fiction-fantasy-translation-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2011\/06\/24\/2011-science-fiction-fantasy-translation-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was going to talk about the Mythopoeic Awards<\/strong><\/a> today, but then I realized that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards<\/a> <\/strong>have just been announced, so I thought I’d bring those to you instead.<\/p>\n

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards<\/strong> are for “works of speculative fiction translated into<\/strong> English from other languages.” In other words, they’re about bringing great works of speculative fiction written in other languages to the attention of the English-reading world. Hands up like those like me who think this is a Good Thing, ie broadening the depth of story range and breadth of imagination for us all to enjoy? I am sure that the “ayes” absolutely have it!<\/p>\n

Those of you who recall my interview with Cheryl Morgan<\/strong><\/a> from last August, may also recall that these awards were one of the new projects she was very enthusiastic about (when you click on the interview, check out question 13<\/span>) through her work with Science Fiction Awards Watch<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The international jury<\/strong> for the Awards comprised: Terry Harpold, University of Florida, USA (Chair); Abhijit Gupta, Jadavpur University, India; and Dale Knickerbocker, East Carolina University, USA.<\/p>\n

The Awards were announced at Eurocon in Stockholm on 18 June (a day after the Gemmells <\/strong><\/a>in London on June 17, so ’tis obviously the season of the award!) and here’s the results:<\/p>\n

Long Form <\/strong>(i.e. Novel, Collection) Winner<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Life on Paper: Stories<\/em><\/strong>, Georges-Olivier Ch\u00e2teaureynaud, translated by Edward Gauvin (Small Beer Press). Original publication in French (1976\u00ad-2005).<\/p>\n

Official Citation:<\/span><\/p>\n

The stories in this collection \u2014 the first-ever English translations of Ch\u00e2teaureynaud\u2019s work \u2014 are written with such delicacy and economy of prose that the reader may be unprepared for the marvelous \u2014 and often disquieting \u2014 irruptions of unreality that break into experiences of the narrators and characters. This is unapologetically fantastic fiction, but so subtly-crafted that even outrageous violations of reason \u2014 a man sprouts tiny wings, a siren swims ashore, a guillotined head complains of its decomposition, a mummy in a double-bass case sings beautifully in Breton \u2014 seem manifestly verisimilar; it all just fits together with cunning perfection. Edward Gauvin\u2019s translations are models of the discipline, masterfully attuned to Ch\u00e2teaureynaud\u2019s stylstic shifts, scrupulous ambiguity, and dark humor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Long Form <\/strong><\/em>Honourable Mention:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Golden Age<\/em>,<\/strong> Michal Ajvaz, translated by Andrew Oakland (Dalkey Archive Press). Original publication in Czech as Zlat\u00fd V\u011bk<\/em> (2001).<\/p>\n

Official Citation:<\/span><\/p>\n

A brilliant, ambitious work of utopian fiction and an extraordinary shaggy dog story, complexly and confidently told. The peculiar architecture of the unnamed island, the islanders\u2019 strange language games and mutable writing system, knowing manipulations of would-be colonizers, and the method of the island\u2019s sole, parodically hypertextual, historical novel \u2014 called simply the Book \u2014 are realized on so many registers and with such care that Ajvaz\u2019s novel seems as much a shorthand encyclopedia of modern thought on language, mind, and fiction-making, as an entertaining, Swiftian travelogue. Andrew Oakland\u2019s translation deftly crosses all of these fictional and nonfictional orders without a misstep, capturing the novelist\u2019s wry humor and philosophical rigor.<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Short Form Winner <\/strong>(ie Short Story, Novelette)
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elegy for a Young Elk<\/strong><\/em>, Hannu Rajaniemi, translated by Hannu Rajaniemi (Subterranean Online<\/em>, Spring 2010<\/a>). Original publication in Finnish (Portti<\/em>, 2007).<\/p>\n

Official Citation:<\/span><\/p>\n

A brilliant crossing of multiple sf and fantasy genres, marked by canny humor, melancholy, and a looming sense of menace, and shot through with beautiful and memorable images and exchanges. Rajaniemi\u2019s evocative prose hints at a richly-conceived backstory of a technological apotheosis that has refashioned real and virtual worlds \u2014 many of the details of which are only hinted at but never seem underimagined. A rare work of short fiction that grows more complex on successive readings.<\/em><\/p>\n

Short Form Honourable Mention:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Wagtail<\/strong><\/em>, Marketta Niemel\u00e4, translated by Liisa Rantalaiho (Usva International<\/em><\/a> 2010, ed. Anne Leinonen). Original publication in Finnish as \u201cV\u00e4st\u00e4r\u00e4kki\u201d (Usva<\/em> (The Mist<\/em>), 2008).<\/p>\n

Official Citation:<\/span><\/p>\n

An intensely-told, unsettling parable of the family in an age of hyperreality and affective alienation. Rantalaiho\u2019s precise translation of Niemel\u00e4\u2019s spare, detached prose admirably captures the narrator\u2019s anxiety and imperfect understanding of the bonds that join her to the daughters \u2014 and kinds of motherhood \u2014 between which she must choose.<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Special Award:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A special award was made to British author and translator Brian Stableford<\/strong> in recognition of the excellence of his translation work.<\/p>\n

Official Citation:<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian Stableford’s contributions to science fiction and fantasy in the roles of author, editor, and historian-scholar may well be unequalled; certainly, no other living writer has matched the variety and scope of his prodigious output of original fiction and scholarship. For the last decade, Stableford has devoted much of his considerable talents and energy to an unprecedented project of literary resurrection, translating more than sixty books of proto and classic sf, horror, and fantasy by French authors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of the authors and titles are unknown to English-speaking readers; only a handful had been previously translated; many of these texts are now almost impossible to find in the original French. Yet they include among them more than a few of the most historically significant and influential works of modern imaginative fiction in that language. They are invaluable to our understanding of the sources and development of world science fiction and fantasy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite their sheer, daunting number fully seventeen of the texts nominated for this years long form Award were translated by Stableford; his translations are complete and faithful. His critical introductions and annotations are models of discernment, and invaluable to the scholar and enthusiast alike. The intellectual sweep and literary success of this translation project are, in a word, astonishing; there is nothing comparable to it in the history of sf and fantasy translation, and it stands as a benchmark for the labor that these Awards aim to honor. Thus it is appropriate that with this Special Award in recognition of the excellence of his translation work, we congratulate and celebrate Brian Stableford\u2019s ongoing service in support of world science fiction and fantasy.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was going to talk about the Mythopoeic Awards today, but then I realized that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards have just been announced, so I thought I’d bring those to you instead. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards are for “works of speculative fiction translated into English from other languages.” In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards","category-other-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6330"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6361,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6330\/revisions\/6361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}