• Mentorships in Catalan, Korean poetry and prose, and Russian prose
• Non-language-specific mentorships, one in poetry and one in prose
• Book-length project to be completed during mentorship year
• Projects to be presented at ALTA40: Reflections/Refractions (October 5-8, 2017 in Minneapolis, MN)

ALTA is pleased to announce that applications are open for the third year of the ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship program!

The ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship Program is designed to facilitate and establish a close working relationship between an experienced translator and an emerging translator on a project selected by the emerging translator. The mentorship duration is approximately one year. The emerging translator is expected to choose a project that can be completed in a year’s time, and they will only be advised on that particular project.

The mentor and mentee will meet at the beginning of their mentorship at the annual ALTA conference, and continue their work during the rest of the mentorship year, either in person, over Skype, or by phone as appropriate. A minimum of six meetings is expected for the course of the year. The mentorship will conclude with a presentation of the mentee’s work in a reading corresponding with National Translation Month. A number of magazine editors have agreed to review submissions directly from mentees at the end of their mentorship year, and to work with them on potential future projects. The award covers travel to the ALTA conference at the beginning of the mentorship.

The program is open to emerging translators at no cost to them. An emerging translator is someone who has published no more than one full length work of translation. MFA and MA students in translation can apply, but priority may be given to those who do not have access to the kind of guidance already present in a translation degree program. Though English is the target language, the emerging translator need not live in the United States. The selected mentee’s proposed project will be worked on based on availability (applicants are not expected to secure rights for their proposal).

This program is distinct from the ALTA Travel Fellowships. Applicants may apply to both programs in the same year, but only may only receive one award. Previous years’ Fellows are welcome to apply for the Mentorship.

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APPLY FOR A 2017 MENTORSHIP!

Applications will be accepted through May 31, 2017. The selected mentees will be announced in July.

Applications must be submitted through our online submission platform, and must include:

• CV
• A project proposal of no more than 1000 words. Projects must be reasonably expected to be completed within the scope of the 1-year mentorship. Proposals should include information about the original author and importance of the source text, as well as how the emerging translator would benefit from mentorship. One round of judging will be blind, so the translator’s name should NOT appear anywhere on this document.
• A sample translation of 8-10 pages double spaced (prose or poetry), along with the corresponding source text. One round of judging will be blind, so the translator’s name should NOT appear anywhere on this document.

Make sure to fill out the correct application form – see the descriptions below.

2017-2018 Language-Specific Mentorships are available working from the following languages:

• Catalan, with mentor Mara Faye Lethem
• Korean prose, with mentor Sora Kim-Russell
• Korean poetry, with mentor Don Mee Choi
• Russian prose, with mentor Marian Schwartz (please note that applications for Russian poetry projects should be submitted for a non-language-specific mentorship)

These mentorships are being offered by ALTA in partnership with the Institut Ramon Llull, the Literary Translation Institute of Korea, and the Russian Federation Institute of Literary Translation.

APPLY HERE for a 2017-2018 Language-Specific Mentorship in Catalan, Korean, or Russian.

2017-2018 Non-Language-Specific Mentorships are available as follows:

• Prose, with mentor Bill Johnston
• Poetry, with mentor Steven Bradbury

Additional details about Non-Language-Specific Mentorships:

• These mentorships will be preferentially awarded to a translator working from an underrepresented or underfunded language.
• Preference will not be given to projects from the mentor’s language.
• Projects may not be proposed from languages already offered in language-specific mentorships (i.e. Catalan, Korean, or Russian prose [Russian poetry accepted]).
• AmazonCrossing will be granted right of first refusal on the completed manuscript resulting from these two mentorships.

These mentorships are being offered by ALTA in partnership with AmazonCrossing and the Amazon Literary Partnership.

APPLY HERE for a 2017-2018 Non-Language-Specific Mentorship in Poetry or Prose

Please contact Assistant Managing Director Rachael Daum with any questions: rachaeldaum@literarytranslators.org.