| STiNA | SWEDISH TRANSLATORS in NORTH AMERICA |
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Literary translation is a field filled with pitfalls as well as opportunities. A number of recurrent problems have been reported by more than one translator, as I discovered while forming the Association of Swedish Translators in North America. Many translators were not aware of contract issues, some had trouble with contract issues, and many translators had difficulties with both Swedish and North American publishers. Even prize-winning translations have been unable to find a home in the literary marketplace. STiNA has been formed to address these problems as well as foster the professional translation of Swedish literature in North America.
While the existence of a literary marketplace for translations goes back to before the days of Saint Jerome, the present-day situation in North America is particularly bleak: translations made up barely 3% of the volumes available for sale. Recently, there has been increased publicity of the role of the translator, as in Oprah Winfrey’s choice of translation of the Brothers Karamazov, and as a result the general reading public has become more aware of the value of a “good” translation. In its April 2005 issue Winfrey’s magazine even identified STiNA member Tiina Nunnally by name.
In spite of the sad overall picture for literary translation in the United States, translations from Swedish have been well-represented, especially when one considers the relative size of Sweden (present population 9 million) in a world context. One of the reasons may be Sweden’s presence in the world literature scene through the awarding of the Nobel Prize, established by Alfred Nobel in 1895. Another reason may be the high rate of Swedish literacy and the value Swedes place on reading. In 2002, 1,229 works of fiction were published in Sweden, of these 262 works were Swedish original works and 298 were translations from other languages. (Poetry, both Swedish and world, was counted as a separate category, and make up the rest of the number).
Swedish literature has existed in English translation for over three hundred years. Carl von Linné, August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Pär Lagerkvist, Harry Martinson, Vilhelm Moberg and especially the prolific children’s author, the late Astrid Lindgren have all been represented by works in English translation. The mystery genre, with authors such as the writing pair Sjöwall-Wahlöö, and present mystery giant Henning Mankell, has given the North American market a number of bestsellers. Tom Geddes has compiled a bibliography of Swedish literature in English translation, and the number of Swedish translations from both British and American translators, as well as English-speaking translators based in Sweden, is in the hundreds, impressive for such a small country.
The American-Scandinavian Foundation, based in New York, awards a translation prize to encourage literary translation of Scandinavian works. A number of translators from Swedish have won the prize, most recently Paul Norlén in 2004.
Lately, however, it seems that the relationship between American publishing houses and Swedish publishing houses has deteriorated. In Sweden, there appears to be little desire to work with American publishing houses, and more willingness to expand energy in promoting their authors with British houses. In Great Britain, translators of Swedish have united under the group SELTA, Swedish-English Literary Translators Association. This group has also been responsible for publishing the Swedish Book Review, which allows publishers to get a look at Swedish works in English translation. Many of the present-day Swedish works in the marketplace have been done by these British translators for British houses, and then the work has been sold further to an American publisher. This has been the case for Mikael Niemi’s Popular Music from Vittula, translated by Laurie Thompson, Torgny Lindgren’s Hash, translated by Tom Geddes, and the later mysteries of Henning Mankell, also translated by Laurie Thompson. The British houses will also consider translations by Americans. For instance, Paul Norlén’s award-winning translation of Ernst Brunner’s life of Bellman, A Toast to Your Ashes, will be published in Great Britain.
Swedish translators active in the United States and Canada fall into two categories: the translator working in an academic institution and the free-lance translator, who works either full time or part time. STiNA has drawn members from both the academic and the free-lance world, with about three quarters of the membership from the academic world and the rest free-lancers. Many free-lancers have an academic background as well, but are no longer associated with an academic institution. A literary translator rarely does other translation work, and the number one source of income comes overwhelmingly from teaching in an academic setting.
As a result, many literary translators, especially ones just out of graduate school, are unprepared to deal with the basics of the literary marketplace, including the basic book contract. In my position as Secretary-Treasurer, the overwhelming majority of questions I receive from individual members are related to contracts and compensation. Beginning literary translators are completely at sea. Some have not even heard of The Writer’s Market series, which lists a number of sample translation average compensation amounts, nor have they heard of the ATA and are certainly unaware of the Nordic division. Some of the translators came to STiNA via the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies (SASS) and others have come to STiNA via the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). Our members rarely have overlapping memberships in both institutions, and therefore STiNA has come to be a bridge between translators in both groups.
The academic translator also has been working in an environment where much of their work is considered community service, and academics do not expect to be paid for translations of literary works (and often are not, especially in poetry translation). Presses in the academic world have been known to request sample translations and are not always expecting to pay for the translation. However, other academic presses, usually the larger presses, are willing to pay for translations. Still, it is assumed that the translator has other income, which is not necessarily the case for free-lancers and which can lead to miscommunication, especially without any kind of written contract. The academic translator also is hit with a double whammy, as translations are not considered “true” scholarship, and are therefore ineligible to be considered as part of the tenure process at many institutions. So the academic literary translator really is translating “for love”. This has its own problems, as an academic may consider the free-lancer more crass, since the free-lancer is working “for money” and this creates an artificial disharmony between the two types of literary translators.
This is a major contrast from the literary translator in Sweden, who is part of a union where wages are set, and who receives a minimal amount each time a volume that he or she translated is checked out of the library (Swedish authors also receive the library compensation). It is also quite different from the literary translator in Great Britain working from Swedish to English. Due to SELTA’s work, our British colleagues in literary translation enjoy an average amount of 75 pounds per thousand words, though a translator is free to work for more or less, depending on the project and the contract.
In the United States, it is not legal for any translation organization to recommend a minimum amount, which could be seen as price-fixing. This means a great deal of flexibility in the compensation that literary translators receive, ranging from nothing at all to a five-figure amount with royalties.
Paul Norlén and I formed STiNA, the Association of Swedish Translators in North America, in order to fill a need that we saw in the Swedish literary translation world. In Great Britain, SELTA had been successful at uniting Swedish translators and made great strides in the translation of Swedish literature. We believed that a similar group could do the same for translators working in the United States and Canada. We also felt strongly that beginning literary translators from Swedish needed a place they could go to find information on working in the field in order to avoid some of the problems that we had experienced when we both began translating as a profession.
The response to our proposal was overwhelmingly positive. We announced the formation of the group on March 18th, 2004, and within a year, STiNA had 25 dues-paying members.
We also knew from the beginning that we would need to work with other groups, such as SASS, ALTA, the American-Scandinavian Foundation and the ATA in the United States and SELTA in Great Britain. We have also been in contact with the Swedish Författarförbundet, the Swedish Institute in Stockholm (which promotes Swedish culture abroad) and the Swedish Translators Association, also in Stockholm. The General Consul of Sweden in New York, and especially Niklas Arnegren, believed so strongly in STiNA’s project that they awarded us a grant to cover many of our start-up costs.
Our first project was a panel at the May 2005 SASS meeting. Four translators, Lars Nordström, Erland Anderson, Paul Norlén and myself, with Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey moderating, spoke about the challenges of literary translation from Swedish. The panel was well-attended, and the discussion afterwards was lively and passionate. Ten STiNA members met for dinner that evening and the discussion continued on an informal basis. The translators found that the panel had been validating and worthwhile, and suggested that a STiNA-supported translation panel be arranged at every subsequent conference.
At the time of this writing, we are working with ALTA on the 2006 annual conference. The conference theme is “Scandinavia meets Asia in the Pacific Northwest” and Swedish Academician Göran Malmqvist has agreed to be one of the key-note speakers. STiNA is working on a Swedish panel for this conference as well. The Scandinavian languages have never been featured at an ALTA conference before, so this is an exiting opportunity not only for Swedish literary translators, but also for those translating from Norwegian, Icelandic, Danish, Finnish and Saami.
STiNA is also eager to work with the Nordic Division of the ATA on setting up a certification exam for translators from Swedish. At present, there is no way to be accredited, since an equivalent Swedish exam is only given to residents of Sweden. This would be a great boost for translators of Swedish resident in North America, especially for the free-lancers who make up one third of our membership.
As Secretary-Treasurer for STiNA, I receive a great deal of correspondence from the membership requesting information and advice with problems that they have encountered in their professional work. Three specific issues seemed to give the translators the most problems.
By far, the first and most pressing issue is contracts and fair compensation. Questions that are raised included: What is fair compensation for a literary translator? Should one expect to get paid? Is an e-mail a contract? Where do I find information on contracts? What do I do if I do not get paid as promised?
The second issue is the relationship with Swedish publishing houses. The number one problem is lack of response from publishers. A translator would request a permission to translate a work (even a work that a publisher was considering if the house received a spec) and would not get a reply of any sort, not even a negative reply. (This problem has also been encountered by SELTA translators in Great Britain, according to SELTA Secretary Tom Geddes). I receive questions such as: How do I get permission to do a translation? How do I get a publisher to write back? I want to enter my translation in the American-Scandinavian Foundation translation prize, but I cannot get a letter of permission. How do I go about getting permission from the author him- or herself instead of the publisher if the publisher does not respond?
The third issue concerns the strained relationship between American and Swedish publishing houses. The American houses are seen as uninterested and indifferent. Swedish houses tend to overlook the importance of small and academic presses, and the big American houses do not appear amenable to considering literary translations. I receive questions such as: How do I get a publisher to look at my translation? This novel won an important literary prize in Sweden, and I can’t get anyone to take a look at it here. My work won the translation prize, but where to I go to get someone interested in publishing it? This situation is encountered by anyone and everyone in the literary field, but is especially acute for literary translators, who are often working in loco agentis for the work they are translating.
When I receive a question along the lines of the first situation, that of compensation, I cannot answer “what to charge” with a numerical figure, even if that is what the beginning translator would like to hear!
However, I do send the translator information about where to find sample contracts on the web (such as the ALTA and NOTIS and PEN websites) and point out that each edition of the Writer’s Market gives an average amount per word for literary and other translations. I also mention the rates that SELTA and Swedish translators in Sweden request, and from this information, the translator has some leverage to work with a publisher on a contract. Lately, SELTA has been active in pointing out that translators can request royalties, and I mention the pros and cons of royalties versus work-for-hire. But the area of compensation is one where we are forbidden by law to make specific recommendations of numerical amounts.
The second issue is complex and one which STiNA would like to rectify. STiNA recommends that Swedish publishing houses look to the translator as an ally in promoting their works, an unpaid agent if you will, and recognize that an American house does not have Swedish-speaking staff available to peruse Swedish literature and recommend a translation. The translator in the United States often works “on spec”, that is, the translator must translate some or all of the work in order for an editor to make an evaluation. The translator must have a permission letter from the holder of the copyright in order for the publisher to look at the work. A publisher will not look at a work without this letter. STiNA recommends that Swedish houses routinely give permission letters, so that their books may be at least considered by the American houses via contact with the translator working as agent.
Many translators, myself included, have circumvented the Swedish houses and gone directly to the author for permission letters, and this often results in publication, paid or unpaid. This only works because many established writers in Sweden hold the copyright in their own name. In order to get in touch with the author, I recommend that the translator go to the Swedish Institute in Stockholm, which can often bring an author and translator together.
The third and last issue is the situation that American publishing houses have when publishing a translation. Of course everyone wants bestsellers, but it does cost a significant amount of money to produce a book. According to John O’Brian, writing for the Center for Book Culture, a house producing a book in translation needs approximately $30,000 in up-front costs. The translation costs 5-10% of this (on average $4000). If the company only sells 2,000 copies, it will lose $18,000! Therefore, an American house, believing translation does not sell, will not take on an unproven work, regardless of literary merit. O’Brian suggests that foreign governments step up to the plate and fund translations at $30K per book. The lack of literary translations appearing in the United States has also concerned PEN, and they have set up a fund to pay translators between $2000 and $10,000 if they deem the work has merit, in effect subsidizing the publishers’ translation costs.
I also believe that publishers in the United States could do more to promote translations that they are already publishing. At a local Seattle independent bookstore, a table displayed works in translation from the Scandinavian countries. Customers bought the works, and commented, tellingly, “I didn’t know that this book was available in English!” The Scandinavian table may have been a success due to the large population of Americans with Scandinavian heritage, but this population should not be ignored by either Scandinavian or American publishers. The US 2000 census showed that over 4 million Americans considered themselves of Swedish heritage, a population half that of the entire home country. This is not an insignificant figure, and more publishers should be aware of the marketing value of the “ethnic” population as a base from which word-of-mouth can spread. (This could also work for other “ethnic” populations.) As it is, the translator is not only working in loco agentis, but also as the main promoter and marketer of the work. Really, isn’t this a bit much to ask from one person?
An American publisher’s worries about the quality of the translation, which would negatively affect sales, could perhaps be alleviated if there is some sort of certification for the translator involved, such as an ATA certification. I would be interested in hearing if the ATA certification has helped other literary translators working in other languages, especially the other Scandinavian languages.
STiNA has floated the idea of finding an agent to work with translators from Swedish. We do not yet know if such an idea is feasible, but it is worth putting on the table for further consideration, especially as the “agents-only” situation is growing.
There are many challenges facing literary translations in general and translations from Swedish in particular. STiNA was formed to promote professionalism in literary translation from Swedish to English, to aid the beginning literary translator in the field, and to promote Swedish literature in North America. There are many challenges ahead, but also ways to rise to these challenges in order to bring about a better understanding of Sweden through literature published and distributed in North America. We look forward to working with the ATA in developing a translation exam, and hope that the ATA will help us towards reaching our goals as well.
A version of this article has been published in the proceedings of the 2005 ATA Conference. Copyright © 2005-2006 Laura A. Wideburg. All rights reserved.
The Swedish Publishers’ Association Book Market Statistics, 2002.
My coinage: in place of the agent. Many houses in the United States do not consider anything that is not submitted by an established literary agent, which leaves the translator, who often is acting in the position of an agent for the work they are doing, locked out of consideration from the beginning. This problem is becoming more acute after the wave of consolidations in the publishing industry.
Context: A Forum for Literary Arts and Culture. No. 16. See also Nos. 14 and 15.
Geddes, Tom. “Sweden in English: Recent literary translation in English”, in Swedish Book Review, 2004 /2.
Kushner, Aviya. “Translation, Please: Why we need it now more than ever,” in Poets and Writers, Nov.-Dec 2002.
O’Brian, John. “Translations, Parts One, Two and Three” in Context: A Forum for Literary Arts and Culture : On Line Edition” Nos. 14, 15 and 16.
PEN American Center website, www.pen.org, under Translation Grants.
Wideburg, Laura A. “The Association of Swedish Translators in North America: How STiNA came to be,” in The ATA Chronicle, April 2005, p. 24.