Issue 15 — June 2005

Competition results — East Translates East latest round

The first round of the grants competition for translation of fiction books in this year’s East Translates East has just been wrapped up and we are ready to announce the results. The applications came from 19 publishers in 10 countries proposing translation from 11 source languages amongst which Russian and Serbian were the most popular.

East Translates East advisory committee approved the following ones:

1. Iskander, Fazil: Sandro of Chegem, translation from Russian into Bosnian by Buybook
2. Kundera, Milan: Farewell Waltz, translation from Czech into Armenian by Guitank
3. Velikic, Dragan: The North Wall,, translation from Serbian into Slovak by Kalligram
4. Sokolov, Sasa: A School for Fools, translation from Russian into Czech by Prostor
5. Nadas, Peter: Selected Essays, translation from Hungarian into Bulgarian by Sonm
6. Mustafaj, Besnik: Heat and Cricket, translation from Albanian into Bulgarian by Stigmati
7. Zalyte, Mara: Margaret, translation from Latvian into Lithuanian by Vaga
8. Krzysztof Varga: Tequila, translation from Polish into Serbian by Vega

The decision for the two applications for promotion grants is still pending.

The second round of the grants competition for translation of books in humanities and social sciences will stay open until 16 October 2005. We will also tenaciously continue our East Promotes East call for proposals. Dear publishers and booksellers, take up the challenge!

VORBA project at the Second Romani Studies Conference, Istanbul, 13-15 May 2005

VORBA project coordinator Sofiya Zahova participated in the Second Romani Studies Conference The Other Side of Europe, organized by the International Romani Studies Network and hosted by Bilgi University and the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul. The conference brought together over 30 European scholars, NGO representatives and activists who presented their experience and research on Romani diasporas, politics and culture. The underlying principle of the event was the establishment of an inclusive and interdisciplinary international forum. Within such a context, the presentation of the VORBA project and Romani Publications project provoked interesting discussions about the usage of the Romani language in communication and education. Next Page also exchanged ideas and participated in a debate on the future development of Romani publishing. Other topics, covered by the conference, were related to Romani art, Romani language planning and codification, social construction of Romani identity, regional (Balkan) Romani identity and Romani communities in Iran, Armenia and Egypt.

New books

Investigative Journalism. Context and Practice, ed. by Hugo De Burgh, transl. into Hungarian by Csilla Beresi (Joszoveg Muhely Kiado, Budapest 2005), supported by Media and Journalism Translation Project.

The editor Dr Hugo De Burgh and the authors of this book present the concept of investigative journalism as fed upon the increasing rationalism of the Enlightenment and the idea of truth as based on objective and impartial interpretation of facts. The study concentrates on theoretical and practical aspects of this journalistic genre in the broad context of mass media, legislation, ethics and new technologies. The authors present and analyze key events such as Watergate and the thalidomide scandal in the UK by combining interviews and interpreting the national and the local press, as well as national and regional radio and television.