´New translators´: seminar on translating Basque, in Slovenia

The European Capital of Culture Donostia 2016, the Etxepare Basque Institute and EIZIE (Association of Translators, Correctors and Interpreters of the Basque Language) created the programme ‘Itzultzaile Berriak-New Translators’ in 2016. The purpose of the programme was to train translators who work from Basque to contribute to the dissemination of literary works originally written in this language in Europe. The programme will now be continued with a seminar organized in the cities of Ljubljana and Nova Gorica, Slovenia, from November 21 to 24.

The European Capital of Culture Donostia 2016, the Etxepare Basque Institute and EIZIE (Association of Translators, Correctors and Interpreters of the Basque Language) created the programme ‘Itzultzaile Berriak-New Translators’ in 2016. The purpose of the programme was to train translators who work from Basque to contribute to the dissemination of literary works originally written in this language in Europe. The programme will now be continued with a seminar organized in the cities of Ljubljana and Nova Gorica, Slovenia, from November 21 to 24.

In this seminar, colloquia have been organized at the Ljubljana Book Fair, the University of Ljubljana and at Nova Gorica University to discuss different issues related to current Basque literature. Discussions will include topics such as the importance of translation in the development of Basque literature, the literary system of a minority language, the relevance of translating directly from the Basque language, the ‘Itzultzaile Berriak’ project, and the promotion of Basque literature abroad.

Help in organizing the colloquia was provided by Barbara Pregelj, one of the translators who spent six months in the Basque Country learning the Basque language (along with translators Laura Liubinavicivte from Lithuania, Mariya Petrova from Bulgaria, and Katarzyna Sosnowska from Poland). Thanks to this stay, Pregelj translated Bernardo Atxaga’s book Xola eta Ameriketako izeba (Shola and the Aunt from America) into Slovenian, and this year she has published two other translations from the same collection in collaboration with the Malinc publishing house: Xola eta Angelito (Xola and Angelito) and Xolak badu lehioen berri (Shola and the Lions).