A CULTURA GALEGA E A FALTA DE ESTATUS DA PERSOA TRADUTORA

No seu ‘Plan de reactivación dos sectores cultural e turístico fronte aos efectos derivados da COVID-19’, presentado o 7 de maio de 2020, o Conselleiro de Cultura e Turismo, Román Rodríguez, anuncia ‘Apoio ás traducións literarias. Incremento das axudas ás empresas editoras para a realización de traducións do galego a outras linguas e doutras linguas ao galego.’ As únicas axudas que a Xunta de Galicia ofrece ás empresas editoras para a realización de traducións do galego a outras linguas son as axudas para o libro galego, que se acaban de anunciar hoxe, a mediados de agosto. Antes de 2013, as axudas para as traducións a outras linguas eran de 25-50 euros/páxina. A partir de 2013, empezouse a citar unha tarifa de 20 euros/páxina ‘como máximo’, cando en realidade deberían ser 20 euros/páxina ‘como mínimo’ ou simplemente unha tarifa fixa de 20 euros/páxina.

 

Sen embargo, nos anos 2013, 2014 e 2019, chegouse a pagar ata 17,80, 17,52 e 15,42 euros/páxina respetivamente. Isto é un abuso da persoa tradutora, a quen estas axudas van destinadas, porque escasamente vai poder vivir con estas sumas. Por iso reclamei en maio un incremento das axudas a 25 euros/páxina como mínimo.

 

Agora, en 2020, a Xunta acaba de adxudicar as axudas deste ano, que son as peores que coñecín. Se descartamos os gastos de edición que dende 2018 supostamente se teñen en conta –é dicir se non os incluímos como parte das subvencións– este ano, no caso da miña editorial, Small Stations Press, chéganse a pagar tarifas de entre 12,78 e 19,79 euros/páxina. Págase a mesma subvención para un libro de 200 páxinas (Ninguén de Fran Alonso) como para un libro de 328 páxinas (A caixiña dos rancores de Héctor Cajaraville). Para un libro de 240 páxinas (Seique de Susana Arins) págase máis que para un libro de 288 páxinas (A intervención de Teresa Moure).

 

Small Stations Press vén sendo a única editorial que edita literatura galega en inglés, a lingua franca do mundo, que dá acceso aos textos galegos non só a lectoras e lectores cuxa lingua materna é o inglés, senón tamén a lectoras (e editoras) de todo o mundo.

 

Con estas subvencións, non podemos seguir funcionando. As dificultades xa eran maiores (falta dunha Oficina de Tradución para promocionar os títulos existentes; pouca atención ás traducións nun mercado que xa ten forte literatura de si, como é o anglosaxón). Agora a persoa tradutora nin vai poder vivir mentres fai a tradución da literatura galega e terá que pedir un préstamo. E a editorial, que ten que correr cos gastos de produción e distribución dos libros, ademais debe adiantar as axudas ao recibir só o 45% das axudas de antemán, pagándoas integramente ás tradutoras na primeira metade de 2021 e non recibindo o 55% restante ata finais de 2021/principios de 2022.

 

¿Onde está o ‘incremento das axudas ás empresas editoras’ anunciado o 7 de maio polo Conselleiro de Cultura, Román Rodríguez? As axudas baixaron este ano, non se incrementaron. A editorial alemana Steve-Holger Ludwig, que recibe 3.405,45 euros para a tradución e edición de Os libros arden mal de Manuel Rivas, un libro de 752 páxinas, se descartamos os gastos de edición, vai recibir 4,53 euros/páxina (ou 11,35 euros/páxina polas primeiras 300 páxinas do libro, se temos en conta o límite de 300 páxinas por libro).

 

A Xunta non se compromete a ampliar a colección que coeditabamos ata 2017, Galician Classics, que tiña unha boa aceptación entre o lectorado anglófono por seren nomes coñecidos como Rosalía de Castro e Álvaro Cunqueiro, a pesar das miñas reiteradas peticións. Non crea unha Oficina de Tradución para promocionar a literatura galega en tradución, que é a única maneira xente de fóra ten de comprender a cultura galega se non aprende o idioma. Non merca exemplares dos libros editados para presentalos nas feiras do libro e facilitar deste xeito o traballo da editorial. Todo depende da vontade do individuo.

 

Outras entidades como o Consello da Cultura Galega ou incluso as Deputacións non queren tomar o relevo. Contactei con elas, moitas veces nin me responden. ¿Que é isto? ¿Que debemos sacrificar as nosas familias para o privilexio de traballar para a cultura galega? Estas axudas que se acaban de anunciar hoxe son un abuso da persoa tradutora, que traballa arreo para xuntar culturas e promocionar a comprensión e a apreciación mutuas. Para as axudas á tradución, debería haber unha tarifa mínima ou fixa de polo menos 20 euros, da que non se baixa. Pódense subvencionar menos libros e manter o mesmo orzamento, pero respetar á persoa tradutora.

 

Ademais hai que ver os idiomas para os cales se dan subvencións, traducindo do galego: maiormente castelán (Alvarellos, Antonio Rodríguez López, Bértolo Troitiño, Bululú, Galaxia, Kalandraka, Versátil Servizos Editoriais), italiano (Fundación Uxío Novoneyra), francés (Fundación Uxío Novoneyra), portugués (Kalandraka), inglés (Small Stations Press) e alemán (Steve-Holger Ludwig). Noto unha falta de coñecemento e interese por parte de editoras estranxeiras (non galegas). Para o inglés – lingua mundial! – só traballa a miña editorial.

 

Versátil Servizos Editoriais recibe subvencións de 4.141,76 e 4.371,86 euros para editar en castelán dous libros de Xosé Antonio Perozo –Don Cazapalabras e A Ecopanda e o misterio románico– cuxas edicións galegas entendo que contan con 36 páxinas. Para a súa tradución ao castelán, Seis poemas galegos recibe unha subvención de 3.635,55 euros –se son os poemas de Federico García Lorca, non son moi longos! No caso de Kalandraka, Escarlatina, a cociñeira defunta (176 páxinas) e Esmeraldina, a pequena fantasma (224 páxinas) de Ledicia Costas reciben maiores subvencións que unha novela de Agustín Fernández Paz, A viaxe de Gagarin (280 páxinas). E parece que hai un predominio de libros infantís, de non ficción e de edición de títulos propios noutro idioma. É dicir, non hai unha exportación dos principais libros galegos contemporáneos gañadores dos máis importantes premios literarios aos máis importantes idiomas do mundo, que sería o obxectivo ideal dunhas subvencións do libro.

 

Fai falta un cambio de política cultural. O primeiro paso debe ser o de fixar unha tarifa mínima para a persoa tradutora nas axudas para o libro galego. Con vontade, pódense facer moitas máis cousas –Oficina de Tradución, Galician Classics, contacto con importantes editoras do mundo… Pero non se debe esquecer a persoa tradutora que fai posible a proxección exterior da cultura galega e sen a cal esa cultura fica muda, incomprensible, para as outras culturas do mundo.

 

Jonathan Dunne

Director, Small Stations Press

18 de agosto de 2020

SOBRE A PROGRESIVA DIMINUCIÓN DO APOIO INSTITUCIONAL Á TRADUCIÓN EN GALICIA

Segundo este artigo de Chad Post, Small Stations Press vén sendo a segunda meirande editora de literatura de España en Estados Unidos durante a década 2008-2018. Cando empezamos a editar a literatura galega en inglés en 2009, só había 29 títulos galegos en inglés que saíron durante o periodo 1964-2008. Parecéronnos ben poucos para unha literatura de tres millóns de falantes. A finais de 2019, xa había 104 títulos galegos en inglés, un incremento de 75 títulos en once anos, dos que 46 títulos son nosos. Pódese consultar unha lista dos títulos neste enlace.

Dividimos os títulos de Small Stations en catro coleccións: narrativa adulta (Small Stations Fiction, www.smallstations.com/fiction), narrativa xuvenil (Galician Wave, www.smallstations.com/wave), clásicos da literatura galega (Galician Classics, www.smallstations.com/classics) e poesía (Small Stations Poetry, www.smallstations.com/poetry).

Editamos as primeiras edicións en inglés dos poemarios Cantares gallegos e Follas novas de Rosalía de Castro, en tradución da poeta canadense Erín Moure. Cantares gallegos saíu por vez primeira en 1863, a súa edición inglesa non ata 2013 – 150 anos despois! En total, editamos a obra de 29 escritoras e escritores galegos en tradución de 9 tradutoras e tradutores, e con ilustracións de 7 ilustradoras e ilustradores. Editamos a obra de autoras como Marilar Aleixandre, Fina Casalderrey, Agustín Fernández Paz, Paco Martín, Marina Mayoral, Teresa Moure, Xavier Queipo, Manuel Rivas, Anxos Sumai e Suso de Toro. Este ano temos previsto sacar dez títulos máis de autoras inéditas en inglés como son An Alfaya, Marica Campo, Francisco Castro, Pedro Feijoo, Iria Misa, Xelís de Toro e Martín Veiga.

Para algúns destes libros recibimos as axudas á tradución que outorga a Xunta de Galicia. A xente pensa que estas axudas son para a editorial, pero débense pagar integramente á persoa tradutora da obra. De feito, a editorial recibe só o 45% da axuda de antemán, debe anticipar o resto ao pagar á persoa tradutora e esperar ata que o proxecto se aprobe para cobrar o 55% restante (que pode ser varios meses ou incluso un ano despois). A editorial funciona como banco de crédito, neste sentido.

A tarefa que outorgaba a Xunta de Galicia era de 25-50 euros/páxina ata 2012, pero en 2013 esta tarefa baixou a 20 euros/páxina, que está por debaixo da tarefa recomendada pola Asociación de Tradutoras do Reino Unido (£95/1.000 palabras, aproximadamente 25 euros/páxina). Con esta tarefa, a persoa tradutora só vai poder sobrevivir, non vai poder aforrar. A persoa tradutora tense que manter nunha permanente tensión – só cobra mentres traduce, en canto deixa de facelo non cobra nada. Non conta con seguridade social, pensión, vacacións pagadas.

E nos anos 2013, 2014 e 2019, a Xunta de Galicia chegou a outorgar para algúns dos nosos libros tarefas de 17,80, 17,52 e 15,42 euros/páxina respetivamente. Na convocatoria – por exemplo esta de 2020 – a tarefa dáse como ‘20 euros por páxina, como máximo’, o cal simplemente fixa o límite para a Xunta – debería ser unha tarefa mínima que se garante para a persoa tradutora, é dicir, ‘20 euros por páxina, como mínimo’.

Cando lle escribín á Xefa do Servizo do Libro e Publicacións, Dolores Tobío Barreira, para saber que debía facer coa tarefa de 15,42 euros, a resposta foi que a editorial debía poñer a diferencia. Entón a editorial que intenta exportar a literatura galega, á parte de correr cos gastos de revisión do texto, deseño, impresión e distribución do libro, debe anticipar o 55% da axuda e suplir o déficit cando esta axuda non chega aos 20 euros/páxina.

A partir de 2018, introducíronse axudas para a tradución dos libros, ‘así como para a súa edición’, pero en 2018 non se percibiu ningunha suma adicional e en 2019 foron sumas pequenas e na metade dos casos a tarefa que se pagou pola tradución foi menos de 20 euros/páxina – o que se gañou acabouse perdendo.

Small Stations Press está basado en Bulgaria. Utilizamos o mesmo sistema de distribución ca moitas editoras do Reino Unido (como, por exemplo, Shearsman Books, editora de moitos títulos da poesía galega en inglés), é dicir print on demand ou impresión baixa demanda, o cal permite que os libros se poidan pedir e imprimir nos tres grandes mercados anglosaxóns de Estados Unidos, do Reino Unido e de Australia a través de 39.000 puntos de venda e dende calquera curruncho do mundo. Intentamos que os prezos dos nosos libros, que varían entre 10 e 18 euros, sexan asequibles.

A tradución é moi importante. É a voz propia máis alén das fronteiras dun país. A outra persoa na maioría dos casos non vai chegar a entender a cultura galega sen que haxa tradutor ou tradutora que a traduza. A tradución permite o intercambio cultural, a comprensión mutua, debería ser unha prioridade, pero moitas veces só se nos ocorre despois (e en canto deixa de ser necesaria, adoitamos esquecela). Pero é a voz do outro.

A Consellería de Cultura e Turismo da Xunta de Galicia ten unha páxina adicada ás traducións, que a día de hoxe (14 de maio de 2020) conta con cinco iniciativas:

1. as axudas á tradución que mencionei arriba;

2. a colección Galician Classics, que foron coedicións entre a Xunta de Galicia e a miña editorial, Small Stations Press, e que consta de sete títulos;

3. unha Anthology of Galician Literature-Antoloxía da literatura galega bilingüe (galego-inglés) que saíu en dous volumes (1196-1981/1981-2011) en 2010 e 2012, da que fun eu o editor e o principal tradutor;

4. un web para a literatura galega en inglés, o Portico of Galician Literature, www.galicianliterature.gal, que coordino;

5. o Obradoiro internacional de tradución poética que organiza a impulsora cultural Yolanda Castaño.

Nótase que tres das cinco iniciativas dependen directamente do meu traballo como tradutor e editor, pero en ningún momento se menciona o meu nome. O tradutor non existe.

A colección Galician Classics é unha colección magnífica – de deseño facilmente recoñecible, cunha foto da autora ou do autor na portada e a ollada da autora ou do autor no lombo do libro, para que nos atraia a atención dende o estante (e certamente é así). Na súa función de coeditora, para os catro primeiros títulos a Xunta de Galicia mercaba mil exemplares, pero a partir da edición de Nimbos en 2014 este número baixou a trescentos exemplares, o cal dificultou moito a edición de Follas novas en 2016 (cando tiven que aportar os meus propios cartos para que a edición saíse adiante e a tradutora recibise a tarefa recomendada), e a partir da edición de Ilustrísima en 2017 non se fixo ningunha outra edición. É dicir, a Xunta de Galicia terminou a súa colaboración nesta colección hai tres anos, a pesar das suxerencias que fixen ao Director xeral de Políticas Culturais, Anxo Lorenzo, de sacarmos títulos como Á lus do candil de Ánxel Fole, Arredor de si de Ramón Otero Pedrayo, Tempo fósil de Pilar Pallarés (obra gañadora do Premio Nacional de Poesía) e Scórpio de Ricardo Carvalho Calero (figura que se celebra este ano no Día das letras galegas, pero do que non se pode ler ningún libro en inglés).

É unha mágoa porque esta colección, ao seren nomes máis facilmente recoñecibles (Rosalía de Castro, Álvaro Cunqueiro, Carlos Casares), tivo unha relativamente boa acepción entre o lectorado anglófono.

Namentres, a Anthology of Galician Literature-Antoloxía da literatura galega en dous volumes (1196-1981/1981-2011) tivo a particularidade de que as cento dez escolmas as fixesen as propias autoras e autores, ou persoas expertas na súa obra. O segundo volume saíu hai xa oito anos, e a meu ver non tiveron a distribución debida – podíanse dar a cada visitante estranxeiro ás institucións galegas e a participantes en eventos, conferencias e festivais organizados en Galicia, como carta de presentación. Ben sabido é que o inglés funciona como lingua intermediaria, e moitas editoras e lectoras do mundo o utilizan para acceder a textos (e culturas) aos que non terían acceso normalmente.

O web para a literatura galega en inglés, o Portico of Galician Literature, www.galicianliterature.gal, conta coa presencia virtual de corenta escritoras e escritores galegos, cunha pequena biografía, a sinopse dun libro importante e unha tradución mostra de 40-50 páxinas. Utílizase nas feiras do libro. Segundo Google Analytics, dende a súa incepción en 2012 recibiu as visitas de máis de 14.000 usuarios dun total de máis de 80 países do mundo. Sen embargo, e a pesar de que lle escribín tres correos electrónicos ao Director xeral de Políticas Culturais, Anxo Lorenzo, e ao seu departamento nos meses de febreiro e marzo, a Xunta de Galicia este ano non renovou o seu interese.

É dicir, das cinco iniciativas adicadas á tradución, semella que tres pertencen ao pasado (pero mantéñense, anonimamente, na páxina web da Consellería de Cultura); as axudas á tradución e o Obradoiro que organiza Yolanda Castaño, é de esperar que continúen.

Esta é a situación que afrontamos as tradutoras e editoras da literatura galega fóra de Galicia (é dicir, as representantes da cultura galega para toda persoa que non entenda galego, que vén sendo a gran maioría da poboación do mundo).

A semana pasada (7 de maio de 2020), o Conselleiro de Cultura e Turismo, Román Rodríguez, presentou un plan de reactivación dos sectores cultural e turístico (a nova está aquí, o PDF do plan aquí). A tradución méncionase na páxina 42:

“Apoio ás traducións literarias. Incremento das axudas ás empresas editoras para a realización de traducións do galego a outras linguas e doutras linguas ao galego.”

As únicas axudas que eu coñezo son as axudas á tradución que mencionei. A convocatoria de 2019 está resolta. A convocatoria de 2020 está en trámite, pero non se sabe cando se han outorgar. Se se outorgan en xullo ou agosto, como vén sendo habitual, a primeira anualidade das axudas (o 45%) pagarase este ano e a segunda anualidade (o 55%) a finais de 2021 ou principios de 2022. Aínda que se incrementen – entendo que o orzamento será maior e se outorgarán máis axudas, pero coa mesma tarefa de 20 euros/páxina (que está fixada na convocatoria ‘como máximo’, pero que pode ser menos) – ¿que axuda nos dá nesta situación difícil que afrontamos? Cando, á vez, parece que se cancelaron os proxectos Galician Classics e Portico of Galician Literature, e a Anthology of Galician Literature foi editada hai xa varios anos.

Levo vinculado coa cultura galega trinta anos. Traducín obras de Manuel Rivas que están editadas por Penguin Random House. Editei e traducín un suplemento de Contemporary Galician Poets para a revista da Poetry Society británica, a máis prestixiosa revista de poesía do Reino Unido, Poetry Review en 2010. Este suplemento foi enviado en papel aos domicilios das 4.000 suscritoras e suscritores da revista e segue dispoñible na páxina web da revista para calquera que queira descargalo.

Dende hai trinta anos, fixen un esforzo tremendo para que a literatura galega – e, por tanto, a cultura galega – saíse máis alá das súas fronteiras lingüísticas, esforzo que non recibiu ningún recoñecemento oficial por parte das institucións galegas e que nin merece mención do meu nome na páxina web da Xunta de Galicia que está adicada ás traducións.

O que necesitamos é un apoio para promocionar os nosos títulos, unha política de promoción. Veño dende 2009 reclamando a creación dunha Oficina de Tradución cun orzamento anual de entre 60.000 e 120.000 euros (o Consello da Cultura Galega, que ten un apartado de ‘Acción Exterior’, conta cun orzamento anual de 2.800.000 euros, segundo este artigo de Galicia Press) que se adique a promocionar os títulos galegos noutros idiomas, a establecer contactos cos axentes culturais dos países de chegada (librarías, bibliotecas, xornalistas, etc.), a organizar actos, a poñer anuncios en revistas relevantes, incluso a organizar un premio de tradución para premiar o labor da persoa tradutora e realzar a obra gañadora. Hai un montón de actividades que se podían levar a cabo para que as traducións entrasen con máis facilidade no mercado de chegada, pero fai falta un orzamento, fai falta un compromiso constante. Levo once anos pedindo e agardando esta iniciativa.

Nunha recente entrevista con Daniel Salgado no xornal Nós Diario, tamén suxiro a creación dunha Escola de Tradutoras con dez postos de traballo para persoas tradutoras, para que as tradutoras poidamos percibir un salario, dignamente. Podíanse dar a persoas tradutoras con probada traxectoria que traballan activamente no eido da tradución co galego. Segundo o mesmo artigo de Galicia Press, a Consellería de Cultura e Turismo conta cun orzamento anual de 157.200.000 euros. Podíanse crear vinte-cinco postos de traballo cun salario anual (pagado de antemán e cunha duración mínima de cinco anos) de 25.000 euros – a literatura galega chegaría moito máis alá, as tradutoras teriamos certa estabilidade en vez de ir de proxecto en proxecto, e levaría o 0,4% do orzamento. ¿Non é apto para unha Consellería de Cultura e Turismo?

E se o Conselleiro de Cultura e Turismo, Román Rodríguez, realmente quere axudar ás persoas tradutoras, debe non incrementar as axudas, senón incrementar a miserable tarefa de 20 euros/páxina a 25 euros/páxina como mínimo. Isto pódese facer co mesmo orzamento, outorgando axudas a menos libros – corenta en vez de cincuenta, por exemplo.

Afronto serias dificultades para sobrevivir simplemente polo feito de ser tradutor – porque creo que debería haber persoas tradutoras que se adiquen á tradución a tempo completo. A tradución é unha práctica, apréndese na práctica, pero as tradutoras corremos o risco de nos convertermos en pezas arqueolóxicas.

Jonathan Dunne

Director, Small Stations Press

Tradutor da literatura galega dende 1993

Rosalía Translators – Interview with John Howard Reid

Continuing our series of interviews with editors/translators of Rosalía de Castro’s Galician and Spanish poetry, I include here an interview with John Howard Reid, the editor/translator of two anthologies of Rosalía’s Spanish poetry.

John Howard Reid (also known as Tom Howard) is based in Australia. He self publishes with Lulu.com. He has published numerous titles on cinema, a series of mystery/suspense novels based on the character Merryll Manning, new translations of the Gospels, poetry, advice on writing, and translations from Spanish of poetry.

These translations include Rosalia de Castro: Selected poems rendered into English verse and Rosalia de Castro: Margarita & other poems in Spanish & English. A third volume of Rosalía’s Galician poems, based on Mauro Armiño’s Spanish translation, is planned.

What made you want to translate Rosalía de Castro’s poetry?

I’ve always loved Rosalia’s work since reading ‘The Bells’ many years ago at college.

What were the main criteria you used in your selection?

I had none. I simply translated the poems I particularly admired. But there were so many de Castro creations in this category, one book could not contain all my favorites. So I followed Rosalia de Castro Selected Poems rendered into English verse with Margarita & Other Poems in Spanish & English.

Why were none of Rosalía’s Galician poems included in your selection?

I can’t read Galician, but now that they have been translated into Spanish, I am working on English translations for publication later this year.

Did you receive any input from the publisher – did they comment on the translation or did they limit themselves to publishing the book?

The publisher had no input whatever. In fact, they didn’t even publicize the book to any great extent.

What kind of reception has the book received? How well has it been distributed?

Reviewers have been most encouraging, but despite their praises, the publisher, the wholesaler and book retailers generally have been totally unimpressed. Amazon is the only noteworthy exception.

You have translated other poets and also parts of the Bible. How do you approach a translation? Do you approach all translations in the same way?

To some extent, the answer is yes. My first question is: ‘What are the authors actually telling us in this particular passage or sentence?’ My second question: ‘How can that particular notion/thought/statement/idea be best rendered into English?’ In other words, it is the meaning rather than the form that I home in on, but I do try to preserve a poetic structure, even if that structure is not actually a mirror image of the original.

You have written poetry, crime fiction, advice on writing, and also been involved for many years in the publishing industry. How do you combine such varied activities?

I transferred from the newspaper industry to the publishing industry because I wanted to broaden my horizons. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life writing a newspaper column. Who remembers newspaper columnists – even famous ones? Is Will Rogers still thought of as a newspaper columnist? In fact I’d be surprised if anyone would make this connection today.

Fifty Books of Galician Literature Are Published in English

The list of books of Galician literature published in English has reached fifty titles for the first time. 2013 has already seen two titles published in English: Rosalía de Castro’s Galician Songs (in Erín Moure’s translation) and Suso de Toro’s The Hunting Shadow (in Antonio de Toro and David Clark’s translation). A couple of other titles are projected for the coming months.

The bumper year regarding books of Galician literature published in English was 2010, which saw seven titles, including the first volume of Jonathan Dunne’s Anthology of Galician Literature and Antonio de Toro’s anthology Breogán’s Lighthouse.

The most successful author of Galician literature published in English is Manuel Rivas, seven of whose titles have appeared, five in Jonathan Dunne’s translation, one in a translation by Margaret Jull Costa and Jonathan Dunne and one in Lorna Shaugnessy’s translation. His eighth title, All Is Silence, is due out in May.

The first book of Galician literature published in English was Rosalía de Castro’s Poems, which was produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid in 1964. There have been a total of twenty-four poetry collections, thirteen novels, eight books of short stories and five mixed-genre anthologies.

Rosalía Day – ‘The Poet Out of Time & Place’

To celebrate Rosalía Day, the Irish poet Michael Smith, who edited and translated Rosalía de Castro’s Selected Poems for Shearsman Books in 2007, has written the following poem, which we are honoured to publish on this blog:

THE POET OUT OF TIME & PLACE

in memoriam Rosalía de Castro (1837-1885)

Born out of time and place

as most of us think we are,

her sadness was not hers alone

but her people’s, too, inbred in her.

‘A village moaner,’ Unamuno said.

But his own moans – his mortality –

were longer and larger than hers

which she bore with as great courage.

A lost, loved child. Sickness.

Wanderings in a Castile not quite hers,

a heart-rending desire to return,

to die by the sea amid her own.

Their lost poetry her persistent love.

Her scattered folk never forgotten.

Michael Smith

Galician Songs in English

Small Stations Press announces the publication of Rosalía de Castro’s Galician Songs, considered the cornerstone of modern Galician literature, for the first time in English. The translation was carried out by the Canadian poet and translator Erín Moure, who as well as being an accomplished poet in her own right – winner of the Governor General’s Award for poetry and twice of the A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry – has translated three books by Chus Pato into English, all of them published by Shearsman Books.

Galician Songs forms part of the series Galician Classics published by Small Stations Press with the support of the Xunta de Galicia. Previous titles in the series are Lois Pereiro’s Collected Poems, Álvaro Cunqueiro’s Folks From Here and There and Celso Emilio Ferreiro’s Long Night of Stone.

Rosalía Translators – Interview with Aileen Dever

The third and final interview in our series of interviews with the editors/translators of the three anthologies of Rosalía de Castro’s Galician and Spanish poetry available in English is with Aileen Dever, who together with her father, John P. Dever, edited and translated The Poetry and Prose of Rosalía de Castro for Edwin Mellen Press in 2010.

What made you want to translate work by Rosalía de Castro?

My father and I were drawn to the beauty and meaningfulness of Rosalía’s poetry and essays. We thought it could be useful to bring to English a larger selection of her work for scholars, creative writers, and those who simply enjoy reading poetry and prose.

How difficult was it to find a publisher? Who made the initial contact, you or the publisher?

It was not difficult to find a publisher as Edwin Mellen Press regularly has a representative and published material about the company at one of the conferences I regularly attend. When my father and I decided to do the translation, we sent the manuscript proposal to Mellen simply because we knew them.

There were two of you translating this book. How did you share the workload?

My father had recently retired from his teaching position and was looking for projects to do. I thought this might be a nice project to engage his mind and one in which he could continue to utilize his skills. We divided up the poems and essays equally. Then we would do our own translations; next we would exchange them and edit each other’s work.

Which edition of Rosalía de Castro’s texts did you use?

Castro, Rosalía de. Obras completas. Ed. Marina Mayoral. 2 vols. Madrid: Biblioteca Castro, 1993.

What were the main criteria you used in your selection?

The main criteria used included selections that we found meaningful, beautiful and artistic in addition to seeking a wide representation of Rosalía’s themes. We wanted readers to have a very good idea of who she was.

Was there a difference between translating texts from Galician and Spanish?

I would say that I particularly enjoyed translating the Galician texts because I think they truly represent Rosalía’s greatest work.

Did you receive any input from the publisher – did they comment on the translation or did they limit themselves to publishing the book?

The manuscript was sent out for review and one critic thought the manuscript was too long, so we shortened it a bit. As I recall, there were no comments that stand out about the actual translations. The comments were more directed to the introduction, which they found rather prosaic, and, thinking about it, I would have to agree.

What kind of reception has the book received? How well has it been distributed?

We have received some comments here and there, but not much beyond that. That’s all right. We understood when we undertook the project that it would probably fill a lacuna for a small group of people. We do hope, though, that professors may bring some of her poems into their classrooms.

What place do you think Rosalía de Castro occupies in world literature today?

I believe that Rosalía de Castro occupies a place that is edging closer to that of Emily Dickinson, her U.S. contemporary with whom she shares numerous thematic and stylistic points of contact. These two women were philosopher-poets who pondered and felt deeply.

Rosalía Translators – Interview with Michael Smith

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication in Vigo of Rosalía de Castro’s Galician Songs, recently published in English for the first time, we continue our series of interviews with the editors/translators of the three anthologies of Rosalía’s Galician and Spanish poetry available in English.

Today is the interview with Michael Smith, who edited and translated Rosalía de Castro’s Selected Poems for Shearsman Books in 2007. We will be publishing a poem Michael wrote for Rosalía Day, ‘The Poet Out of Time & Place’, this Sunday on this blog.

What made you want to translate work by Rosalía de Castro?

I had come across her name in various books on feminism, but, when I went to look for her poems, I found that these were unavailable or had been poorly translated or were in a dated English. The best I found were the translations by the Scottish poet Edwin Morgan (which still seem to me to read well). Besides that, I was aware of her role in reviving Galician, which has a great deal in common with the Irish experience of reviving poetry in Gaelic after many years of marginalisation and neglect. I also felt that the feminists who wrote about Rosalía seemed more concerned with feminism than with the poetry. At any rate, I felt that Rosalía deserved decent recognition in English. I might also add that, as an Irish poet, I felt a deep affinity with the Galician background. That affinity was very helpful in empathising with Rosalía’s work.

How difficult was it to find a publisher? Who made the initial contact, you or the publisher?

I initiated the project, but I had no difficulty in finding a publisher. Tony Frazer of Shearsman Books had already published many of my translations from Spanish and, once I had sent him my small anthology of Rosalía’s work, he immediately agreed to publish it.

Which edition of Rosalía de Castro’s texts did you use?

I used the Obras completas in two volumes, edited by Marina Mayoral (Madrid: Turner, Biblioteca Castro, 1993).

What were the main criteria you used in your selection?

My main criteria were the quality of the poems and the possibility of their being translated into an English that was readable and pleasurable and at the same time faithful to their originals, at least in the sense that any translation can be ‘faithful’ to its original.

Was there a difference between translating texts from Galician and Spanish?

Now, I don’t know Galician, but with the help of Spanish literal translations and the help of two Galician friends, José Manuel Estévez Saá and Margaret Estévez Saá, I was able to cope comfortably enough with the Galician. Two Spanish friends of mine, Luis Huerga and my longtime co-translator from Spanish, Luis Ingelmo, were extremly helpful in checking my translations of the poems in Spanish.

Did you receive any input from the publisher – did they comment on the translation or did they limit themselves to publishing the book?

Tony Frazer was extremely pleased with the book and gave it an unreserved acceptance.

What kind of reception has the book received? How well has it been distributed?

I honestly don’t know how well the book was received, but four of my translations have been included in the prestigious Norton Anthology of World Literature, so clearly the book has not been ignored.

What place do you think Rosalía de Castro occupies in world literature today?

Although not quite in the same league as Emily Dickinson, Rosalía should rank with Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti and (as a poet) Emily Brontë.

One last thing. I am hoping to persuade some good bilingual Irish poet to translate Rosalía’s poetry into Gaelic. Her work would find a very sympathetic acceptance in that language.

Rosalía Translators – Interview with Anna-Marie Aldaz

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication in Vigo of Rosalía de Castro’s Galician Songs, the cornerstone of modern Galician literature and recently published in English for the first time in Erín Moure’s translation by Small Stations Press and Xunta de Galicia.

To celebrate this fact, we have conducted interviews with the editors/translators of the three anthologies of Rosalía’s Galician and Spanish poetry available in English. These are Poems (1991), edited and translated by Anna-Marie Aldaz, Barbara N. Gantt and Anne C. Bromley; Selected Poems (2007), edited and translated by Michael Smith; and The Poetry and Prose of Rosalía de Castro (2010), edited and translated by John P. Dever and Aileen Dever. A fourth anthology, now only available second-hand, is Poems of Rosalía de Castro (1964), edited by Xosé Filgueira Valverde and translated by Charles David Ley.

We start with Anna-Marie Aldaz, who kindly agreed to answer the following questions:

What made you want to translate work by Rosalía de Castro?

While attending an American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) conference, my friend and colleague Barbara Gantt and I came across an announcement by the State University of New York (SUNY) asking for submissions for its series Women Writers in Translation. After some discussion, we decided that Rosalía de Castro would be an excellent candidate because we felt that she was too little known in the English-speaking world.

How difficult was it to find a publisher? Who made the initial contact, you or the publisher?

We submitted our proposal to SUNY, where it was met with great interest by the series editor. Even so, it took time and effort to clear the path to acceptance.

There were three of you translating this book. How did you share the workload?

After selecting the poems we wanted to translate, Barbara and I divided the task. We met frequently to read each other’s translations and revise them. When we were finally satisfied with our versions, we asked another friend, the poet Anne Bromley, to read and critique them. After a discussion of her suggestions, we came up with what would be the final version.

Which edition of Rosalía de Castro’s texts did you use?

The edition we used – Rosalía de Castro, Obras completas. 7th ed. (Madrid: Aguilar, 1982) – was the latest one available at the time we worked on the poems (the late 1980s). It includes the original selections by Victoriano García Martí and additional ones by Arturo del Hoyo.

What were the main criteria you used in your selection?

Since our main aim was to make Rosalía better known in the English-speaking world, we chose relatively short, mostly lyrical poems from her three major books (Cantares gallegos, Follas novas and En las orillas del Sar), hoping this sampler would illustrate her innovative style, pervasive moods and recurrent themes.

Was there a difference between translating texts from Galician and Spanish?

The Galician texts were at times linguistically more challenging, but we felt that many of the poems Rosalía wrote in her native language best captured her most intimate thoughts and deeply felt emotions.

Did you receive any input from the publisher – did they comment on the translation or did they limit themselves to publishing the book?

We did not receive any comments on the translation. However, since our book was part of a series, there were definite guidelines regarding the format. This meant that, much to our chagrin, our book could not be a bilingual edition.

What kind of reception has the book received? How well has it been distributed?

Though overall favorable, the initial critical reception was fairly low-key, but some recent studies have seen our book as groundbreaking. Around 250 libraries hold a copy and, given that SUNY had the foresight of digitalizing our book soon after its publication in 1991, the book can also be accessed online from over 500 libraries worldwide.

What place do you think Rosalía de Castro occupies in world literature today?

It is gratifying to see that Rosalía’s stature has continued to increase steadily over the years and that she is now rightfully recognized as one of the outstanding figures in world literature.

Claudio Rodríguez Fer’s Tender Tigers

This year saw the publication of Claudio Rodríguez Fer’s Tender Tigers (Tigres de ternura) in a bilingual Galician-English edition by Editorial Toxosoutos. The English translation is by Kathleen March and is accompanied by illustrations by Kathleen’s daughter, Kimberleigh Martul-March.

An up-to-date list of books of Galician literature published in English can be consulted here.

Anthology of Galician Literature 1981-2011

This month sees the publication of Jonathan Dunne’s Anthology of Galician Literature 1981-2011, a companion volume to the earlier Anthology of Galician Literature 1196-1981.

While the earlier volume was intended to give an overview of the history of Galician literature up to the present day, this second volume aims to introduce the English-language reader to contemporary Galician writers. Sixty texts by sixty different writers ranging from Xavier Alcalá to Domingo Villar, passing through more established names such as Chus Pato and Manuel Rivas, and including younger names such as Oriana Méndez and Daniel Salgado, present the genres of adult and children’s fiction, poetry, drama and essay in a bilingual Galician-English edition. In the case of living authors, all the texts were chosen by the authors themselves; thirty-nine of the texts date from the twenty-first century, making this volume highly up-to-date.

It is hoped that this book will enable the interested reader to access some of the best of what is being written in the Galician language today.

Anthology of Galician Literature 1981-2011 is edited and translated by Jonathan Dunne, with additional translations by Roy Boland, Erín Moure and Sonia Soto, and published by Edicións Xerais de Galicia and Editorial Galaxia in collaboration with the Xunta de Galicia. A list of the contents is to be found here.

Forked Tongues

Today sees the publication by Shearsman Books of a volume of Galician, Basque and Catalan women’s poetry in translations by Irish writers, which has been edited by Manuela Palacios, associate professor of English literature at Santiago University (Manuela also co-edited with Mary O’Donnell an anthology of Galician women poets, To the Winds Our Sails, with translations into English and Irish).

The five Galician poets included in Forked Tongues are Pilar Pallarés, Chus Pato, Lupe Gómez Arto, Yolanda Castaño and María do Cebreiro, who have been translated by five Irish writers, Maurice Harmon, Lorna Shaughnessy, Anne Le Marquand Hartigan, Máighréad Medbh and Mary O’Donnell respectively. The Galician poets are accompanied by four Basque and four Catalan poets.

Shearsman Books is one of the main publishers in the UK of poetry in translation and has published six books of Galician poetry, three by Chus Pato and one each by Rosalía de Castro, María do Cebreiro and Manuel Rivas.

It is possible to see the contents and read Manuela’s introduction here. Congratulations to all involved!

Three New Galician Books in English

Three new books of Galician literature are published in the space of twenty days, bringing the total number of books of Galician literature published in English to 45 (just two years ago, at the start of 2010, there were 31). A full list of Galician titles in English can be consulted here. It includes twelve novels and fourteen individual poetry collections (as opposed to group anthologies).

Last Friday saw the publication of On a Bender, Craig Patterson's translation of A esmorga by Eduardo Blanco Amor, published by Planet Books. An interview with Craig is available on this blog.


15 April sees the publication of The Disappearance of Snow, Lorna Shaughnessy's translation of Manuel Rivas' A desaparición da neve, published by Shearsman Books, who also publish Rosalía de Castro, Chus Pato and María do Cebreiro. A selection of Rivas' earlier collected poems, From Unknown to Unknown, came out in 2009.

And 20 April sees the third title in the series Galician Classics published by Small Stations Press - Long Night of Stone in Jack Hill's English translation.

Translators crossing lines, sewing wounds, so that grass grows where the scar was.

On a Bender

Today sees the publication by Planet Books of Eduardo Blanco Amor's classic novel A esmorga, translated into English as On a Bender by Craig Patterson. Craig, who is lecturer at Cardiff University and president of the International Association of Galician Studies, kindly agreed to give the following interview about the book and his translation.

What is On a Bender?
On a Bender is my translation of Eduardo Blanco Amor's 1959 novel in Galician A esmorga. The novel centres upon the main character Cibrán's account of an extended spree of drinking and shenanigans in Auria, an imaginary transposition of Ourense. The novel's psychological depth lies in the way Cibrán retells events to the police and in his attempts to save his own skin by prolonging the narrative and distorting events and details. The novel is constantly rated in surveys by Galicians as their favourite of all time, so it has been an honour to work on the English version which will hopefully contribute to Galicia's international cultural profile.


What's this business about the book being censored? Do we now have the original as the author intended?
The manuscript of A esmorga was taken to Galicia from Argentina by Isaac Díaz Pardo on behalf of Blanco Amor at the end of 1955 and handed to the Galician-language publisher Galaxia, which then began the process of submitting it to the Francoist censor. The first attempt at publication in Galicia in 1956 failed because the text was rejected on the grounds of its expletive language rather than for political reasons. After some further difficulties, Blanco Amor followed a course familiar to many writers who could not get their work past the gatekeepers of the dictatorship's moral and religious codes and sought publication in Latin America. A esmorga appeared in Buenos Aires on 3 April 1959. The novel was submitted to the censor on two further occasions in 1969 in a new attempt to get it published in Galicia. Although the literary quality of the work was praised on this occasion, it was nonetheless cut in five places in order to suppress criticism of authority, including the reference at the end to the possible causes of the protagonist's death (at the hands of the Civil Guard). It was finally published in Galician in December 1970. In 2010 Galaxia published a restored version which retained the five fragments suppressed by the censor over forty years earlier. If anybody wants to learn more about the history of the novel's publication history and the censorship it encountered, then they should consult Xosé Manuel Dasilva's excellent study "As vicisitudes editoriais d'A esmorga" (Grial 184, pp. 36-51).

I am delighted to say that On a Bender will be the first translation of the restored novel by Blanco Amor into any language. Luís González Tosar told me recently that Blanco Amor had hoped that his most well-known novel would be translated into English one day and I am honoured to have been a part of this endeavour.

What does a piss-up set in the nineteenth century have to do with the global crisis?
The novel is about what ordinary people do in extraordinary circumstances and also how they cope with those circumstances, warts and all. It's about what people with nothing do to make their lives worth living. So there is some universality there. There is greater contemporary resonance, however, in the novel's treatment of the relationship between the mainstream and the periphery, between the conventional, the marginal and the marginalised, between conformity and being true to one's own identity, however flawed we may be as human beings. Also the novel deals with the relationship between a repressive authority and possible criminality or social deviance. All of these factors held great relevance for Blanco Amor at the time of the novel's publication, given that he was a homosexual writer producing the work in exile when the Franco dictatorship was firmly in power in Spain and Galician culture just beginning to emerge, if only in a fragmented way, from the bleak period that followed the Spanish Civil War. But in the same way the novel can still travel across cultural specificity today, in our times, when decades of progress in terms of social welfare, mobility and inclusion seem to be being rolled back at an alarming rate, when economic inequality in the form of bankers' bonuses and levels of unemployment are never higher and when we must question more than ever the discourse imposed upon us by superstructure, be that a government, the media or advertising. For me one of the many essential truths of the novel is: together we stand, divided we fall. That may mean something for us today and for our need for solidarity in the face of disaster capitalism and shock doctrine on both a large and smaller, everyday scale that challenges our serenity.

What were some of the peculiarities of translating this book?
I can think of four peculiarities: two general and two specific.

The first general peculiarity was of course deciphering and translating the heavily colloquial Ourensan Galician in which the narrator-protagonist relates the events that supposedly took place during the notorious bender, in a style which reflects his struggle to surpass his own cultural, educational and social condition. Translating that strand of Galician in general was extremely challenging. The second was that of trying to emulate or capture the voice of a narrator-protagonist who is not educated to a great degree, but who nevertheless shows occasional lyrical flourishes and a creative tendency in his exposition. So register had to remain mid to low whilst at the same time almost reaching higher levels now and again.

In addition there were two specific cases relating to vocabulary. One of these was the translation of the Galician noun follateira. The search for the meaning behind the term went on for some time and, to cut a long story short and after many linguistic trials and tribulations, friends reminded me that Blanco Amor himself defines the term in his novel La catedral y el niño as "misteriosa fiesta de Auria, reminiscencia, quizás, de cultos báquicos del latino colonizador". This of course led to a new challenge: how to reduce that down to a term without the recourse to a footnote, textual or otherwise. I opted for "those drunken fiestas that go back to old Auria".

The other principal linguistic challenge encountered was the phrase fóra a ialma, which appears six times in the text. The expression has the equivalent grammatical value of the conjunction agás or excepto, expressing anomaly, exception or even contradiction. Its function is not semantic, but pragmatic and euphemistic and is employed when animals are compared with humans within a clearly Catholic socio-cultural context: its cultural specificity is rooted in the blasphemous connotations of such a comparison. For example it is still not uncommon today to hear the expression in regards to domestic animals such as cats and dogs when humans are compared to them or vice versa: "fóra alma e fé [os cans] son como a xente". In Catholic doctrine God created man in his own image and animals were doctrinally inferior. Therefore to suggest a person is like an animal is to offend the work and image of God and therefore blasphemous. This rhetorical exemption clause allows blasphemy to be avoided without excluding the recourse to animalisation through simile. It has an apologetic core that seeks to redress the overwhelmingly blasphemous essence that it conveys in a southern European socio-religious context.

In order to translate this specific and peculiar Galician idiom with no direct equivalent in English, I favoured retaining some its strangeness whilst attempting to render it as a seamless part of the dialogue and rhetoric of the narrator-protagonist, just as it functions in the Galician. I achieved this by consolidating and reinforcing the sense and lexicon of the original Galician so that it attained some idiomatic plausibility in English: "save for his/her/their blessed souls". By introducing the adjective "blessed", a liturgical and hallowed sense of spiritual exclusivity is retained, thereby emphasising the religious quality of the rhetorical device and reminding what will probably be a largely secular readership of its purpose, origin and cultural specificity. Furthermore this solution communicates the peculiarity or otherness of the source idiom precisely by highlighting its origins through an appeal in the English to archaic religious lexicon that evokes the pre-Reformation period.

The great irony is that A esmorga has been extremely challenging to translate, yet it is a relatively short novel. By comparison Castelao's sprawling masterwork Sempre en Galiza, which I am also translating, has been relatively straightforward in linguistic terms. The only challenge with that text is of course its length and the need to provide a critical edition for it. Watch this space.

Our congratulations to Craig and to Planet! The book can be ordered here.