BEA 2014: Global Market Forum on TRANSLATION

I’ll be the first to complain about Book Expo America (BEA) and its “corporate publishing circle jerk” , but even with that they put on some cool events, and they have made me a happy man by announcing that next year’s Global Market Forum is going to be on TRANSLATION!

You may remember this year’s market focus was Mexico, last year’s was Russia, and with next year’s focus on translation, that makes three years in a row of basically everything that I am interested in being the focus of BEA. Thank you, BEA, thank you.

The best part of this announcement is that BEA is partnering with the most legitimate of partners to make this a success, including some of my favorite people from Open Letter Books at the University of Rochester, the UT-Dallas-based American Literary Translators Association, and the Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco.

The Global Market Forum will be in good hands, I am personally excited, and hope to be invited back to participate in a panel discussion again this year.

Here’s the official press release:

Books in Translation: Wanderlust for the Written Word

BookExpo America has announced a new development for its 2014 Global Market Forum (GMF) program that is uniquely exciting by bringing a dedicated focus to books in translation. Leading US and international professionals that specialize in bringing the written word across languages will gather for a world summit on translation on Wednesday May 28th 2014, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, and in the following days at and around the book industry’s largest gathering in North America which will take place Wednesday, May 28th – Saturday, May 31st 2014.

BEA welcomes a host of prestigious partners that will develop the professional and cultural programs that make up the 2014 Global Market Forum: Books in Translation presented at BEA as well as various venues and institutions in the New York City area during BEA. These include the Literary Translation at Columbia Writing Program, PEN World Voices, Open Letter Books at the University of Rochester, the Association of Author Representatives (AAR), American Literary Translators Association, Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco as well as representatives of international markets promoting their countries’ literature in the US.

Books throughout history have been the vehicle for ideas and stories that transcend geography and cultures, reaching audiences far beyond a native land or language. Globalization and digitization bring new forces that are re-inventing the book trade and extending the possibilities for translations.

BEA is leading a collaborative effort from a variety of innovative organizations and experts in the sector to explore how these new opportunities can be turned into new business for authors, agents, publishers and translators.

Topics will include lessons learned from the recent success stories of translated authors, like the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson; explore how translated works can transcend from niche audiences to a large readership; debate best practices for making translations work – from English, as well as into English, and the help proposed from attractive funding programs. Marketing translations can now benefit from self-publishing to social media, by effectively managing interested target audiences, thereby facilitating the way to market for translated books.

“This is a logical evolution for BEA as international participation has outpaced every other segment at BEA aside from digital” says show organizer Steven Rosato. “While this is different for the GMF program, which typically focuses on a single country or region, providing a platform for books in translation is part of the long term future of BEA and will support future GMF programs and create more business opportunities for all BEA participants.”