Free to Enter: First Annual $2500 William F. Sibley Memorial Translation Prize

29 September 2010
Free to Enter: First Annual $2500 William F. Sibley Memorial Translation Prize
Deadline: 1 December 2010

To honor their late colleague William F. Sibley, The Department of East Asian Languages & Civilizations and the Committee on Japanese Studies of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago have established the William F. Sibley Memorial Translation Prize in Japanese Literature and Literary Studies. The competition will be held annually and judged by members of the Committee on Japanese Studies.

In keeping with William Sibley’s lifelong devotion to translation and to the place of literature in the classroom, up to three awards of $2500 each will be given for the translation from Japanese into English of a work of fiction, poetry, or drama (including screenplays), or scholarship in literary studies, broadly understood. To encourage classroom use and comparative research, winning entries will be published on the Center for East Asian Studies website (http://ceas.uchicago.edu).

Submissions should be on the scale of short story rather than novel, on the one hand, but a body of poetry rather than single poems, on the other. Essays, reportage, and criticism are all genres for consideration. Retranslations of works previously translated, especially of premodern literature, may also be submitted. Translations of manga and anime will not be accepted, but scholarly essays about these genres will be considered. Translations of subtitles, no; scenarios, yes. Co-translations are acceptable.

Each entry should not exceed a length of 15,000 words, and should be accompanied by an introduction of no more than 1,000 words presenting the significance of the work in Japan and its potential life in English. The rationale for retranslation should be separately addressed. Entries should be for unpublished works only. The committee will not consider more than one submission per person per year.

The deadline for the first competition is December 1, 2010.

Application materials should include:

* A cover letter with the applicant’s full name, mailing address, email, and phone number.
* Introduction (1,000 words or less)
* A single printed version of both the English translation and the Japanese original, as well as a digital copy of each, preferably in .pdf format.
* If applicable, a rationale for retranslation of previously translated works.
* If applicable, proof of permission to translate must also be submitted. It is the responsibility of applicant to secure permission from copyright holders for any works not in the public domain.

Send materials to:

Chair, Selection Committee, Sibley Memorial Translation Prize
Committee on Japanese Studies
5835 S. Kimbark Ave.
Judd Hall 302
Chicago, IL 60637

For additional inquiries, contact Sarah Arehart at sarehart@uchicago.edu or 773-702-2715.

More information here.
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