In an age when libraries are making serious efforts to diversify their collections, literature in translation is increasing in prominence. Join Kathleen Merz, Editorial Director at Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, and award-winning author and translator Lawrence Schimel for a conversation about the challenges, opportunities, and implications of literature in translation. We'll discuss the publishing process, tips for collection development, and how to evaluate translated works.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this class, students will be able to:
Describe a process for evaluating literature in translation
Explain how translated works can help diversify your library's collection
Instructors
Kathleen Merz is the Editorial Director for Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. She joined Eerdmans in 2009, and since then has had the chance to work on a number of award-winning titles, including books that have won the Caldecott Honor, the Batchelder Award for translation, and the Sibert Medal. Kathleen studied English and linguistics, and especially enjoys working on translated books and nonfiction picture books. She’s particularly fond of stories that celebrate diversity and tackle contemporary social issues in ways that are organic, compelling, and honest. Kathleen lives in Michigan, and when she’s not at work editing, she can usually be found outside somewhere biking, kayaking, or just tucked in a hammock reading.
Lawrence Schimel (New York, 1971) is a full-time author, writing in both Spanish and English, based in Madrid, Spain, who has published over 130 books in a wide range of genres. His picture books have won a Crystal Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, a White Raven from the International Youth Library in Munich, and have been chosen by IBBY for Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities (three times), among other honors. His writings have been translated into over sixty languages, including Welsh, Scots, Icelandic, Maltese, Farsi, Kurdish, Basque, Luxembourgish, Changana, Romansch, and Xhosa. In addition to his own writing, he is a prolific literary translator, primarily into English and into Spanish, who has published over 150 books. His translations into English have won a Batchelder Honor from the American Library Association, a PEN Translates Award from English PEN (three times), and a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship (with Layla Benitez-James), among other honors. He is Senior editor in charge of Spanish-language publishing for children's book publisher NorthSouth Books.