Miami to Host Translation Summit

By A�da Bardales -- Críticas, 9/15/2007

The Miami Book Fair International (MBFI) and BookExpo America (BEA) have joined forces to present the Translation Marketplace, a one-day summit on world literature and translation. The seminar, which will take place November 8 during the 24th annual Miami Book Fair (Nov. 4–11), is limited to editors, publishers, literary agents and scouts, and others in the trade, and will address a variety of issues, including world literature, foreign rights, and licensing. The MBFI, one of the largest literary events in the United States, brings publishers, booksellers, authors, and readers together in downtown Miami.

In collaboration with Críticas magazine, the panel “Latin American Literature in Translation” will provide U.S. editors and publishers with insight into current Latin American literature and up-and-coming authors. The panel will also address how U.S. publishers are already handling the translation of Latin American literature and what they should be doing to stay abreast of the Latin American book market. Panelists include editors Johanna Castillo (Atria Books), Lorin Stein (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), and Valerie Miles (Santillana); literary agent Andrea Montejo; and David Unger, Guadalajara’s International Book Fair U.S. representative.

Other panels taking place throughout the day include “The Portuguese Tale,” which will focus on books from Portugal, Brazil, and Africa; “Word Has It: The Agents Buzz,” featuring literary agents who focus on translations, including Sanford Greenburger Agency’s Carol Fredericks and Carmen Pinilla from Spain’s Carmen Balcells Agency; and “Review This, Please,” with U.S. book review editors revealing some of the challenges and pleasures of reviewing works in translation.

While this event is limited to those attending the educational panels for the publishing industry, organizers plan for future Translation Marketplace events to include a forum for the presentation and purchase of works available for translation.

The Translation Marketplace summit will take place at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus and is sponsored by Críticas, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal. For more information or to register, go to www.thetranslationmarket.com.