Sunday Submissions: PEN/Heim Translation Grants & 2022 ArabLit Story Prize

The PEN/Heim Translation Fund, established in the summer of 2003 by a gift from Priscilla and Michael Henry Heim, is now open for submissions:

Over the 16 years of its existence, the Fund has given grants of $2,000–$4,000 to a total of 180 translations from more than 30 different languages. They note that “about 20 percent of the published PEN/Heim Translation Fund projects have won or been shortlisted for major literary awards.”

There is no citizenship or residency requirement for those applying for the grant. The organizers note that “all other criteria being equal, preference is given to translators at the beginning of their career, and to works by underrepresented writers working in underrepresented languages.”

Since this is above all a grant intended to help with completion, works should be translations-in-progress rather than new projects.

The deadline for submissions is June 1, and those interested can submit via Submittable.

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Also open for submissions is our own ArabLit Story Prize:

The ArabLit Story Prize is an award for the best short stories, in any genre, newly translated from Arabic into English. Translators must have secured rights to the work, and translations must have been previously unpublished.

Stories will be judged primarily on the quality of the translated work as a thing-in-itself, although translators must also submit the Arabic original, as this must be a translation, not a loose adaptation nor a work written originally in English.

This year’s three judges are Perween Richards, Yasmeen Hanoosh, Dena Afrasiabi.

 
Submission materials must include: 1) Cover letter with the name of author, translator, story, and length. 2) The story in translation, rendered as 4000 words or fewer in English, attached as a Word document. 3) The story in the original Arabic, preferably in the same Word document. 4) Some evidence you have the rights to translate and publish this story, such as an email from the author or a scanned note. If the story is in the public domain, please note this.

Note: Do not put author or translator’s name on the attached works. If you put your name on the work, it may be disqualified.

THERE IS NO FEE FOR SUBMISSIONS.

The prize: $500 to the winner, split between author and translator (except in cases where the work is in the public domain). Shortlisted stories will have the opportunity to be published in ArabLit Quarterly magazine as well as a future anthology.

Questions about submissions can be sent to info@arablit.org, please submit your entry by July 21, 2022 using our Submittable.