Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1011650
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 AUGUST 2018 NEWS WIN €1000 Every month when using Findit.com.mt DIRECTORY | DEALS | QUOTES | REVIEWS Next time... use Findit! Freddie tried to cut costs by fixing the toilet himself. It didn't end well. JAMES DEBONO ATTEMPTS to translate the works of Malta's national poet in various languages is proving to be a challenge, due to the difficulty of finding a transla- tor who can grasp other global languages. The National Book Coun- cil has already commissioned three authors to translate the Dun Karm Psaila's works and make them accessible to a glob- al audience. The pledge to have Psaila translated in five different lan- guages was made in the Labour Party's electoral manifesto. So far the National Book Council has commissioned translations in English, Italian and Arabic, three languages spo- ken by nearly two billion people. The English translation will be undertaken by Clare Vassallo, helped by Oliver Friggieri as as- sistant editor, while the Italian translation will be carried out by Prof. Joseph Eynaud and the Ar- abic one by national book prize- winner Walid Nabhan. "If we fail to find people who can translate from Maltese to other languages, we will have to unfortunately resort to trans- lating from the English bridge translation, however, this is an option which I am trying to avoid," council chairman Mark Camilleri told MaltaToday. The biggest challenge for the National Book Council with regards to translations is that excluding the English language, there are "very few qualified translators who can translate from Maltese to other languag- es," Camilleri said. Camilleri is calling for a great- er appreciation of a greater plu- rality of languages. "I'd like to encourage students and aspir- ing intellectuals and academics to grasp other languages such as Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Mandarin and Portuguese." And he promises that the Na- tional Book Council has enough work for them to keep them oc- cupied. "We need plenty of transla- tors and the volume of work is endless. I guarantee that Mal- tese translators who will learn how to translate Maltese liter- ary work in the languages men- tioned above will surely have work available for them." Translation work can also be very lucrative compared to what authors earn from their own books. "Funding for liter- ary translations will keep grow- ing and the demand for trans- lators is growing ever still, so translators who translate into languages other than English will be guaranteed work." The only condition for Camilleri is that the work of the translators must be impeccable. "There is no room for amateur- ism in this field," a pre-emptory Camilleri declares. The Dun Karm project may well be the launching pad for putting Maltese literature on the international map. "This falls squarely in the book council's strategy to ex- port Maltese authors and this is being backed by budgets. Every year we travel to foreign book fairs to export and promote Maltese authors and books," Camilleri said. "Dun Karm is the Maltese poet who literally invented the wheel of Maltese literature and hence he is our national poet. He can- not be replaced in this position. Translating his work into other languages and making them available into foreign markets is a prime government priority to keep exporting our literature all over the world." National Book Council seeking translators in other global languages including Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin Mandarin translator for Dun Karm Situation vacant: