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National Endowment for the Arts Announces International Literary Exchange Award to Copper Canyon PressMay 7, 2009
The National Endowment for the Arts today announced that Copper Canyon Press, an internationally renowned nonprofit literary publisher, will be the U.S. publisher for its International Literary Exchange with the People's Republic of China. NEA International Literary Exchanges support U.S.-based presses in publishing and promoting contemporary anthologies in translation. Based in Port Townsend, Washington, Copper Canyon will receive $117,000 to support the translation, publication, and promotion of a bilingual anthology of work by 30-40 Chinese poets born after 1945. Expected to be published in spring 2011, the anthology will be edited by award-winning poet and editor Qingping Wang, who also will write the introduction to the volume. The anthology will be co-translated by noted Chinese literature scholars and translators Howard Goldblatt and his wife, Sylvia Li-chun Lin, who jointly received the American Translators Association Translation of the Year award in 1999 for their translation of Notes of a Desolate Man by Taiwanese novelist Chu T'ienwen. "The Arts Endowment is one of the nation's leading supporters of the field of literary translation -- through our Creative Writing Fellowships for Translators, grants to organizations that support and publish literary translations, and through international partnerships such as the International Literary Exchange. We look forward to partnering with Copper Canyon Press to extend these cross-cultural conversations to China, which will assist in enriching the cultural lives of both nations," said NEA Acting Chairman Patrice Walker Powell. In China, the General Administration of Press and Publication will concurrently publish a bilingual anthology of contemporary U.S. poets edited by U.S. poet David Mason. The U.S. anthology will feature 30-40 poets born after 1945. A publication date has not yet been announced. Copper Canyon Press was selected to participate in the International Literary Exchange program through a competitive process. Established in 1972, the press is an exclusive publisher of poetry both in English and in translation. Copper Canyon has published more than 300 titles, including translations of work by Pablo Neruda, Rabindranath Tagore, and, most recently, the Chinese Tang dynasty poet Wei Ying-wu. The press also published The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin, recipient of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. The NEA launched the International Literary Exchanges in 2006 to promote the exchange of great world literature across borders. This initiative develops partnerships betweenthe Arts Endowment and foreign governments or their designees. The NEA makes a commitment to fund the publication of an anthology of thework of writers of the foreign country, and the partner country commits to publishing acorresponding anthology of the work of U.S. writers. Each country pays thefees of its own editors and acquires the publication rights of its own writers. The NEAhas undertaken literary exchange publication projects with Mexico, Pakistan, and Russia. Most recently, the NEA's International Literary Exchanges program supported the publication of The New North: Contemporary Poetry from Northern Ireland by Wake Forest University Press and Best of Contemporary Mexican Fiction by Dalkey Archive Press. About the National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established, bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov. About Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is a nonprofit publisher that believes poetry is vital to language and living. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to authors, editorial acumen, poetry in translation, and dedication to poetry audiences. Copper Canyon comprises a community devoted to the power of poetry in our lives: poets, readers, volunteers, funders, booksellers, librarians, professors, reviewers, colleagues, and staff who share a conviction that a good poem sharpens our appreciation of the world, invigorates the language, and nourishes the soul. For more information, please visit www.coppercanyonpress.org.
National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency |
