The grant will help ALTA connect Arizonans with the craft of literary translation via a set of free, public events.
Tucson, AZ: The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) has been awarded a Project Grant from Arizona Humanities to support Arizona Translates!, a series of free, public events celebrating the craft of literary translation. ALTA will receive $8,000 in funding for the events, which will be held in fall 2021.
“We are proud to receive funding from Arizona Humanities to highlight the craft of literary translation and connect Arizonans to other cultures through world literature,” said ALTA Executive Director Elisabeth Jaquette. “We look forward to presenting this exciting program thanks to the generous support of Arizona Humanities.”
Arizona Translates! is a series of free, public events that will be held in fall 2021 alongside ALTA’s 44th annual conference (ALTA44: Inflection Points). The program includes:
- October 5, 4-5pm: Inflection Points: A Gallery Talk on Poetry in Translation (virtual). Several translator-curators present an online exhibit of poetry in translation, in this collaboration with the University of Arizona Poetry Center and the Tucson Humanities Festival.
- November 12, 3:30-5pm: Keynote Address by Ofelia Zepeda & discussion tables (in-person). A member of the Tohono O’odham (formerly Papago) Nation, Ofelia Zepeda grew up in Stanfield, Arizona. She earned a BA, an MA, and a PhD in linguistics from the University of Arizona. She is the author of a grammar of the Tohono O’odham language, A Papago Grammar, and several collections of poetry.
Following the keynote address, attendees are invited to join discussion tables and share their thoughts about the Zepeda’s address with fellow attendees.
- November 12, 7:30-9:30pm: Before the German’s Here: A Staged Reading and Talkback (in-person). The winner of the 2021 ‘Plays in Translation’ contest will be presented in a staged reading followed by a talkback, in this collaboration with the Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre.
Arizona Translates! is ALTA’s first public event series aimed at bringing translation to Arizonan audiences since the organization moved to Tucson and became affiliated with the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona in January 2019.
For more information, please visit https://literarytranslators.org/arizonatranslates.
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About ALTA
The American Literary Translators Association is a nonprofit membership association that provides resources, community, and professional affiliation to its members: individual translators, academic institutions, presses, and others working in literary translation. The annual ALTA conference, held in a different location each year, is the largest gathering of literary translators in the United States, and the only one of its kind. ALTA also administers awards to recognize excellence in translation, and provides fellowships and mentorships to support emerging translators.
To learn more about ALTA, please visit https://literarytranslators.org/.
About Arizona Humanities
Arizona Humanities is a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the Arizona affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 1973, Arizona Humanities has supported public programs that promote understanding of the human experience with cultural, educational, and nonprofit organizations across Arizona. Arizona Humanities builds a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our shared human experiences through discussion, learning and reflection.
To learn more about Arizona Humanities, please visit https://azhumanities.org/.