You can get lost among the labyrinthine shelves of London's many bookshops. With so many books and so many eye-catching covers competing for your attention, it can be hard to find what you’re looking for at times. But the curious reader who looks closely may be able to place their hands on the English version of Mercè Rodoreda's classic La plaça del diamant, or In Diamond Square, as translated by Peter Bush into English. Or Eva Baltasar's successful first novel Permagel - that is, in English, Permafrost.
There is increasing interest in Catalan literature in translation among readers of English, and there are publishers searching hungrily for Catalan gems to translate for their markets: these were two of the assertions made at the first Seminars on Advanced Translation from Catalan to English held by the British Centre for Literary Translation in collaboration with the National Centre for Writing and the Institut Ramón Llull, held last week.
“There is interest in Catalan literature in the United Kingdom. Before, the market was not receptive to translations, but in the last ten years this has changed and Catalan literature has benefited. There is now a developing market for books written in Catalan,” said Duncan Large, academic director of the British Centre for Literary Translation, in an interview with ElNacional.cat.
Copies of some of Mercè Rodoreda's novels and stories published in English by Open Letter. / Open Letter
Although this is not the first time that they have organized Catalan translation workshops, it is the first time that they have devoted an intensive course exclusively to texts in the Catalan language. And the idea has been quite a success. "For us it has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate a kind of miniature Catalan festival. This week's workshops have been a great success and we are very happy with how it has gone. We hope it will be the first of many," says Large.
It will not be long before, however, before there is another Catalan literary appointment in the UK capital. In April next year, at the London Book Fair, Catalonia will be one of the stars. Every year, special "spotlight" status is given to one country and in 2022 that focus will be on Catalan literature. In fact, this week's conference has served as a warm up for the big event next spring. "We thought that was an especially appropriate moment to do the workshops, given the spotlight on Catalonia at the London Book Fair. It made a lot of sense to create a network and establish contact with new translators," says Large.
Differentiating Catalan
Last week's sessions were attended by publishers such as Open Letters, which has a Catalonia collection dedicated to Catalan books in English translation. It is a commitment to differentiate it from literature in Castilian, which in some cases has caused controversy. In the promotion of one of their books in Spain, they used the Catalonia label and someone got upset about it. "It wasn't a big deal, but someone complained to us about it," says editor Kaija Straumanis.
However, they don't plan to change their approach: “It's a different language. We also have many authors in Spanish, but I am of the opinion that it's good to recognize a small language and support it”.
According to Duncan Large, it is particularly the independent and small publishers which are the most enthusiastic about Catalan literature. One of these is independent publisher And Other Stories, which has published Permafrost as well as Alicia Kopf's Brother in Ice. “It’s great not to translate just from Spanish or French,” editor Stephan Tobler told the translators participating in the workshop: “I don’t think the world needs more translators from Spanish or French. I'm sorry, but we do need more Catalan translators”.
The major publishers also share this view. “There have been more books that needed translators than translated books. But obviously there is a change in that, and that's good news," said Katharina Bielenberg of MacLehose Press & Arcadia Books.
Peter Bush, a translation reference point
Of course, some classics of Catalan literature were translated into English long ago. In 1967, for example, the first translation of Rodoreda's La Plaça del Diamant, by Eda O'Shiel, was published in English as The Pigeon Girl.
One of the most recognized and award-winning Catalan to English translators is Peter Bush. Born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1946, his CV of literary translation runs from Mercè Rodoreda to Joan Sales (Uncertain Glory), Rosa Maria Arquimbau (this summer Fum d'Estampa has published Forty Lost Years) and Víctor Català (A Film by Open Letter). For all this, in 2015 he received the Catalan government's Sant Jordi Cross.
Bush, who was director of the British Centre for Literary Translation between 1998 and 2003, led last week's advanced Catalan translation workshops. "I've always been attracted to writing that is anti-establishment," he explained in one of the events focused on 20th century Catalan writers.
During the talk, Bush gave a tour of the context behind his translated works. “While in the UK we had a different situation, the fascist police were still torturing people in Madrid and Barcelona,” he explained contrasting the situations of post-war Britain and Francoist Spain.
The international impact of books in Catalan
Peter Bush’s interest in Catalan literature is also shared by the publishing house Fum d’Estampa, which came into being in 2019 precisely to translate books from Catalan to English. "I think Catalan writing is a breeding ground for quality essays. It's exciting, fascinating. This November we publish our first philosophical essay (Josep Maria Esquirol's The Intimate Resistance), and next year we are publishing a collection of seven essays on the seven deadly sins," explained publisher Douglas Suttle, stressing "the great quality of the essay writing that is taking place at the moment in Catalonia".
In many of the translations released by this and other publishers, a key factor has been the involvement of the Institut Ramon Llull in promoting Catalan literature. "They make Catalan feel like a much bigger language than it is just because they are especially good at promoting it. If I had to compare it to other European countries, they are in the top five," said Katharina Bielenberg.
Main image: Quim Monzó's collection of stories Why, why, why?, published in English by Open Letter. / O.L.