National Centre for Writing supports 14 emerging translators through mentoring programme

The National Centre for Writing (NCW) is supporting 14 emerging literary translators through its mentoring programme. Now in its 12th year, the scheme was founded by writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn and is organised by NCW. It has so far supported 108 translators in more than 35 languages. 

Rebecca DeWald, programme manager at NCW, described the new cohort as “truly international”, adding: “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 shortlistees and winners alike, who are all poised to provide their mentees with the perfect foundations from which to soar into the literary translation world.” 

Each mentee is matched 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 Emerging Translator Mentorships alumni such as former mentee and current mentor Nichola Smalley, whose translation of Andrzej Tichý’s Wretchedness (And Other Stories) 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 Other Stories) and Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season (Fitzcarraldo Editions) 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 programme 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.” 

The winners of the 2022-2023 Emerging Literary Translator Mentorships Programme are: Ibrahim Sayed Fawzy, for Arabic to English, mentored by Sawad Hussain; Hazel Evans for Danish to English, mentored by Paul Russell Garrett; Vaibhav Sharma for Hindi to English (Saroj Lal mentorship), mentored by Booker International Prize-winner Daisy Rockwell; Anandita Budiman and Sekar Larasati for Indonesian to English (Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize), mentored by Khairani Barokka; and Antonella Lettieri for Italian to English, mentored by Howard Curtis. 

They will be joined by Cat Anderson for Japanese to English, mentored by Juliet Winters Carpenter; Gene Png for Korean to English, mentored by Anton Hur; Olivia Blyth for Norwegian to English, mentored by Rosie Hedger; Dawid Mobolaji Akala for Polish to English, mentored by Sean Gasper Bye; and Claire Gullander-Drolet for Québec French to English, mentored by Sarah Ardizzone. 

Megan Evans has also been selected for Swedish to English, mentored by Nichola Smalley alongside Tetiana Savchynska for Ukrainian to English, mentored by Nina Murray, and Emyr Wallace Humphreys for Welsh to English (Visible Communities mentorship), mentored by Meena Kandasamy.