AmazonCrossing will Literaturübersetzungen ins Englische fünf Jahre lang mit 10 Mio. US-Dollar fördern

Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos (51), Gründer und Chef von Amazon, gilt als Turbo-Kapitalist, Sklaventreiber, Kontrollfreak und Geizhals. 2014 wurde er beim Weltkongress des Internationalen Gewerkschaftsbundes zum „Schlechtesten Chef der Welt“ gewählt. Wie man sieht, ist er aber auch ein Freund der Literaturübersetzer und Förderer des interkulturellen Austauschs.

Zur diesjährigen Frankfurter Buchmesse hat AmazonCrossing, eine Tochtergesellschaft des Online-Händlers Amazon, angekündigt, Literaturübersetzungen ins Englische innerhalb der nächsten fünf Jahre mit 10 Mio. US-Dollar zu fördern. Das Geld soll ausschließlich für Übersetzerhonorare und zur Übersetzung von belletristischen Buchtiteln ausgegeben werden.

Seit 2010 hat AmazonCrossing bereits mehr als 200 Titel von Autoren aus 29 Ländern und aus 19 verschiedenen Sprachen ins Englische übersetzen lassen.

Auf einer eigens dafür eingerichteten Website können Titel zur Übersetzung vorgeschlagen werden.

Die Pressemitteilung im Wortlaut:

AmazonCrossing Announces $10 Million Commitment to Translating Books into English
Investment to increase the number and diversity of books in translation

 

In celebration of its fifth year, AmazonCrossing, the literary translation imprint of Amazon Publishing, today announced a $10 million commitment over the next five years to increase the number and diversity of its books in translation.

 

AmazonCrossing is one of the largest publishers of translated literature in the United States, with 77 titles from 15 countries and 12 languages to be published in the United States in 2015.

 

Today’s announced investment will go toward fees paid to translators over the next five years and increasing the countries and languages represented on the AmazonCrossing list, which since 2010 has included more than 200 titles by authors from 29 countries writing in 19 languages.

 

To support this growing commitment to books in translation, AmazonCrossing editors today opened a new website for authors, agents and publishers to suggest titles for translation. AmazonCrossing is now accepting submissions in mystery, thriller, women’s fiction, historical fiction, literary fiction, memoir, science fiction and fantasy categories.

 

„We launched AmazonCrossing five years ago to introduce readers to voices of the world through English-language translations of foreign-language books. While we are now one of the largest publishers of translated literature in the United States, translated fiction is still a tiny fraction of new publications. Today we are committing $10 million to translations to bring more international writers to new audiences,“ said Sarah Jane Gunter, Publisher of AmazonCrossing and General Manager of International Publishing. „Our new website for submissions will help us cast a broader net in finding great books for translation, with the hope of increasing the number of acquisitions from countries that are traditionally underrepresented in translation.“

 

Over the past five years, AmazonCrossing has published significant works such as German author Oliver Pötzsch’s million-copy best-selling Hangman’s Daughter series, Korean author Bae Suah’s acclaimed novella Nowhere to Be Found and Turkish author Ayse Kulin’s Kindle best seller Last Train to Istanbul.

 

The 2016 list will continue a commitment to translating books by exceptional foreign-language authors including award-winning and best-selling Mexican author of Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel. Her novel Pierced by the Sun, a gripping tale of murder and redemption translated from Spanish by Jordi Castells, will be published in June 2016. In July 2016, AmazonCrossing will publish award-winning Polish crime writer Zygmunt Miloszewski’s Rage, translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, winner of the 2014 Paszport Polityka prize for literature.

 

Please visit translation.amazon.com/submissions for more information and to propose titles for translation.

 

About Amazon Publishing

 

Amazon Publishing is the publishing arm of Amazon.com. The Amazon Publishing family has 14 imprints: 47North, AmazonCrossing, AmazonEncore, Amazon Publishing, Grand Harbor Press, Jet City Comics, Lake Union, Little A, Montlake Romance, Skyscape, StoryFront, Thomas & Mercer, Two Lions, and Waterfall Press.

[Text: Richard Schneider. Quelle: Pressemitteilung Amazon, 3015-10-13. Bild: Pressebild Amazon.]