BookExpo America 2014 Promises ‘World Summit on Translation’

At next year’s BookExpo America (BEA), billed as the largest event in North American publishing, there will — instead of a country focus — be a focus on “books in translation”:

As part of that, BEA organizers promise to bring in US and international translators “for a world summit on translation on Wednesday May 28th  2014, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City,” followed by events at the BookExpo, which will run through the 31st of May.

The “Books in Translation” events will be hosted both at BEA and by other venues and institutions, including the Columbia University School of the Arts, PEN World Voices, Open Letter Press at the University of Rochester, the Association of Author Representatives (AAR), American Literary Translators Association, and San Francisco’s Art of Translation.

According to the BEA news release:

Topics will include lessons learned from the recent success stories of translated authors, like the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson; explore how translated works can transcend from niche audiences to a large readership; debate best practices for making translations work – from English, as well as into English, and the help proposed from attractive funding programs. Marketing translations can now benefit from self-publishing to social media, by effectively managing interested target audiences, thereby facilitating the way to market for translated books.

This focus on translated literature,  show organizer Steven Rosato said in the release, “is a logical evolution for BEA as international participation has outpaced every other segment at BEA aside from digital.”

Hopefully, there will be some fun and interesting events.