The
Asian Studies Department of Cornell University is proud to announce the
recipients of the 2017 Kyoko Selden Memorial Translation Prize competition,
concluded on November 1. The prize for an unpublished translator has been
awarded to Erin L. Brightwell, Assistant Professor of Premodern Japanese
Literature at the University of Michigan, for her translation of
"The Torrent" (奔流, Hon'ryu,
1943) by the Taiwanese writer Wang Changxiong (王昶雄, also known by his Japanese
name, Ō Chōyu), who lived from 1916 to 2000. Brightwell's translation is a
welcome contribution to recent scholarship on Japanese-language literature
produced in the era of Japan's multi-ethnic empire. The translation vividly
renders into English the numerous subtly charged dialogues in this story,
with their attendant psychic repercussions.
Kyoko Iriye Selden Memorial
The
2018 Kyoko Selden Memorial Translation Prize in Japanese Literature,
Thought, and Society
The Department of
Asian Studies at Cornell University is pleased to announce the 2018 prize
honoring the life and work of our colleague, Kyoko Selden. The prize will
pay homage to the finest achievements in Japanese literature, thought, and
society through the medium of translation. Kyoko Selden's translations and
writings ranged widely across such realms as Japanese women writers,
Japanese art and aesthetics, the atomic bomb experience, Ainu and Okinawan
life and culture, historical and contemporary literature, poetry and prose,
and early education (the Suzuki method). Recognizing the breadth of
Japanese writings, classical and contemporary, and with the aim of making
such materials more widely available, we ask that prize submissions be of
unpublished translations. Collaborative translations are welcomed. In order
to encourage classroom use and wide dissemination of the winning entries,
prize-winning translations will be made freely available on the web. The
winning translations will be published online at The Asia-Pacific Journal:
Japan Focus.
Prize selections will
take into account both the quality of the translation and the significance
of the original work. In cases where a text already published in English is
deemed worthy of retranslation, new translations of significant texts are
accepted (please provide date and place of earlier publication). Applicants
should submit the following to the Kyoko Selden Memorial Translation Prize,
Department of Asian Studies, 350 Rockefeller Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY 14853:
- Three
copies of an unpublished translation
- Three
copies of a statement of up to 1,000 words explaining the significance
of the text. Although we do not require that the translator has
already obtained permission to publish the translation from the
copyright holder, please include in the statement information about
whether preliminary inquiries have been made or whether or not the
work is in the public domain.
- One printed
copy of the original Japanese text
- A brief
c.v. of the translator
- In
addition, please send electronic copies of all the above as attachments
to seldenprize@cornell.edu.
The maximum length of a submission is 20,000 words. In case of
translation of longer works, submit an excerpt of up to 20,000 words.
Repeat submissions are welcomed. Please note that the closing date for the prize
competition this year will be August 1, 2018. For the
2018 competition, one prize of $1,500 will be awarded in two different
categories:
1) to an already published translator; 2) to an unpublished translator.
The winners will be informed by November 1, 2018.
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