Credit where credit's due: the plight of Polish translators

This #CeatlFriday we look behind the Polish literary translation scene. What has happened there since the establishment of the Polish Association of Literary Translators (STL) in 2010?

?

With more than 450 members, STL deals with representation and protection of the interests of literary translators. Visibility is a key word in everything they do, and it shows! Literally, because STL has come up with slogans, printed on T-shirts, bags, stickers and more.

?

And publishers in Poland increasingly put the translators’ names on the cover, and prefaces and afterwords by translators are also more common than they used to be. Translators can be seen at literary festivals and other cultural events dedicated to the art of translation.

?

But it’s not all fun and games, because despite increased visibility, translators don’t always get the credit they deserve when it comes to awards. Compared to what authors of the original work get as price money, translators far too often get but a fraction of that for their literary translations.

?

And as for rates? Well, things are looking rather bleak. Fees have hardly changed despite rampant inflation, and they generally don’t increase with the translator’s experience. So, there’s lots of room for change on that front.

?

Read the whole article by Ewa Rajewska on #Counterpoint: https://www.ceatl.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Counterpoint_2023_09_article_06.pdf

?