Pan Mac to acknowledge translators on covers as campaign support soars

Pan Macmillan has announced translators will be acknowledged "on the book cover and all promotion materials” for all new publications and reprints from this week, in the wake of calls for publishers to credit the profession for their work.

The move comes after the Society of Authors (SoA) launched a campaign for publishers to name translators on the cover of books they translate, with an open letter initially backed by 100 people including Bernardine Evaristo and Philip Pullman, which has now received more than 1,760 signatures.  

A statement from Pac Mac said the publisher was “fully supportive” of the SoA campaign, adding: “We frequently work with the translator in the promotion of the book and we need to ensure that translators consistently receive the fullest acknowledgement on the book cover and all promotion materials. This will be the position on all new publications and reprints from this week.” 

Other members of the Big Five publishers indicated that they did not have a group-wide policy, and the response would be handled by each publishing house individually.

A number of smaller publishers seemed open to considering a change in approach. A spokesperson for Europa Editions said the publisher “values deeply the vital role and work of translators” adding "as the conversation continues we are going to consider all available options”. 

Juliet Mabey, publisher at Oneworld, said she is “definitely looking again at this issue” but also noted in the past some translated books have tended to sell "quite badly”. She told The Bookseller: “Our priority has always to support our authors, in English and in translation, by doing whatever we can to maximise their readership – from very careful editing and high production values including expensive cover art — but with the increase in visibility, very much helped by the International Booker Prize, the situation has changed enormously. Some booksellers like Blackwell's are even giving greater prominence to novels that are obviously translated, so we are definitely looking again at this issue.” 

However, Adam Freudenheim, publisher and managing director at Pushkin Press, the publisher behind this year’s International Booker Prize-winner David Diop’s At Night All Blood is Black, said he does not think translators should be on the front cover.  He stressed Pushkin always credits translators on the title page and the back cover, and includes their biographies in press releases and tags them on social media, but argues the front cover should just be for the author.  

“I suppose what I feel is getting lost in this slightly, where the front cover issue is being raised, is the fact that the translator isn’t the author and no one's really asking how the author feels,” he said. He also argued that many works are translated by a number of different people, and including them all on the front cover could make it look messy. “The front cover is a sales tool ultimately, above all, it’s a kind of shopfront window” he said.

“You’re making a design decision and you’re making a decision about how you’re presenting that book to an audience,” he added, stressing that he “fully believes how important it is that translators are credited and acknowledged”. 

However, some publishers, such as Charco Press, have always featured their translators on the front cover and argue this is the right thing to do. Publisher Samuel McDowell said: “This is in line with our vision of seeking to raise the profile of translators, who play such an incredibly critical and valuable role in literature. They immerse themselves in a work, for months on end, in order to unlock it, so that the rest of us are able to experience the language and music contained within.  

“The discussion as to whether or not they are named on covers speaks to a broader point, and that is recognition. Ensuring that translators are receiving fair contracts, being remunerated appropriately, and retain ownership of rights for their work are other examples where we, as an industry, can be doing better. And if a translator wishes for their name to be on the cover, then publishers should be open to that discussion.”