Translation

Literature in translation corners only a tiny percentage of the international literary market in English. While English is a national official language in 45 Commonwealth countries, people’s languages and cultures are many and varied. Commonwealth Writers is working with translators to provide more opportunities for writers using diverse languages to reach a wider readership.  Good translation builds bridges between cultures and languages and enables rich literary heritages to be shared worldwide.

As part of our focus on translation, we have opened up the Commonwealth Short Story Prize to entries translated into English and both authors and translators are rewarded. We are also developing a translation project with the Dhaka Translation Centre, English PEN and the British Centre for Literary Translation, in Bangladesh later this year which will culminate in the publication of a Bangla-English anthology of short stories in 2015.

Commonwealth Writers was at Hay Festival Dhaka 2013.