Hopeful that Americans may read literature in translation if it features a familiar element, Dalkey Archive Press is publishing As You Were Saying: American Writers Respond to Their French Contemporaries in July. The 104-page, $9.50 paperback, which pairs short stories by French and American authors, is an example of what senior editor Martin Riker called Dalkey's mission "to promote not just the [work in] translation, but also the idea of translation."
As You Were Saying was conceived by Fabrice Rozie, from the French Cultural Services in New York; Esther Allen, from the PEN American Center; and Guy Walter, from the arts research center Villa Gillet in Lyon, France. They asked seven French authors to write stories that were then translated into English and sent to seven American writers (including Rick Moody and John Edgar Wideman), who either completed the original stories or wrote corresponding stories of their own. The editors came up with the idea because translated fiction doesn't sell well in the U.S. but is popular in France. (Three percent of all books published in the U.S. are works in translation; in France, that percentage is much higher, and 40% of all available translations in France are of American texts.)
Dalkey was a natural fit for the project; known for publishing literature in translation, the house has collaborated with the French Cultural Services in the past. The writers (all of whom are well-known and respected) and translators (all affiliated with PEN) were not paid for their work.
An excerpt from the book (Wideman's essay "Wolf Whistle") appears in the current issue of Harper's, and Dalkey plans to give out copies of the book at the PEN World Voices festival in New York later this month. The book's first printing will be 15,000 copies.
"The book raises the issue of what does translation mean? What's the value of it? In what way is translation a cultural exchange?" said Riker. "We hope that by publishing a book that has as its focus the experience of translation, we will raise the profile of translation in this country. That's our humble ambition." But maybe a tall order.
