The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) is partnering with the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) and the National Centre for Writing (NCW) to support an Arabic to English translation programme.
The partnership aims to "strengthen cultural dialogue and promote the award’s translation grant", and will be rolled out through an 18-month programme, providing access to a network of Arab translators in the UK.
As part of this, the SZBA will support a literary translation workshop during the BCLT's International Literary Translation and Creative Writing Summer School, which runs from the 18th to 22nd July 2022. The one-week programme will bring together writers and translators from around the world with literary translator Nariman Youssef, director of Arabic translation at the British Library, as moderator.
The SZBA will also support a mentorship scheme for one emerging Arabic to English translator and a six-month orientation programme for an emerging professional literary translator.
Dr Ali bin Tamim, chairman of the ALC and secretary-general of the SZBA, said the initiative will "strengthen collaborative efforts with our partners in the UK to promote Arabic translation around the world" and "expand the scope of cultural exchange between the East and the West by translating notable literary works that advance the Arabic language on the global stage, and promote its greatest works among non-Arabic speakers".
The long-term initiative will provide access to an extended network of translators and academics in the United Kingdom to encourage more interest in the translation grant and Translation category of the SZBA. It is designed to create an alumni network of Arabic literary translators in the UK, develop an initiative in collaboration with the British Centre for Literary Translation, and publish an Arabic anthology that includes works by graduates from the centre’s summer school, as well as interns.
Professor Duncan Large, academic director of the BCLT, added: "we are delighted to be collaborating with the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in offering this exciting professional development opportunity to Arabic-English literary translators. We look forward to hosting an Arabic-English translation workshop at our annual Summer School for the first time in over a decade, and this initiative will enable translators to attend, irrespective of their circumstances."
A statement by the National Centre for Writing said: “We are very pleased to participate in organising this programme with the Sheikh Zayed Book Award to offer a talented early-career Arabic-English translator a place on our Emerging Translators Mentorship Scheme in 2022," said a spokesperson for the NCW.
"We thank the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for its support, enabling us to work together with BCLT to nurture a new generation of literary translators from Arabic into English.”
The BCLT is a research centre affiliated with the University of East Anglia, where it supports a Master’s degree in literary translation and a doctoral research programme.
The annual SZBA award is one of the Arab world’s most prestigious literary prizes, and recognises the work of writers, translators, researchers, academics and publishers in advancing Arab literature and culture.
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