The ESA Network
Dear writers, translators and publishers of European languages, this is an invitation to pursue an ideal - the ideal of building a literary and intellectual community committed to translation, transmission and mediation of literature in the different languages of the European continent.
How can the intersection of various European languages be imagined? How can sustainable relationships between writers, translators and publishers be established? What kind of structure could facilitate the transmission and translation of books and contribute to the construction of a common European culture? Since the beginning of 2008, these questions have been posed by a steadily growing group of writers, intellectuals and researchers who have come together through the “European Society of Authors.”
The European Society of Authors (ESA) has numerous supporters: Peter Sloterdijk, Bruno Latour, Hélène Cixous, Georges Hoffman, Barbara Cassin, Gisèle Sapiro, Pascale Casanova, André Schiffrin, and many others support various ESA projects. The ESA is also connected to a network of mediators and correspondents who contribute concretely to the exchange of texts in different European languages: publishers, authors, readers and translators in France, Italy, Russia, Germany, Spain, just to name a few.
The ESA functions like a social platform, as a network of projects. In addition to the national funding programmes (stipends, financial assistance with translation projects) and as a counterforce to large book fairs where the number of copies or print run size is often valued more than quality, the ESA would like to foster the concept of diverse multi-lingual translations.
Due to the increasing amount of drastic cuts in cultural budgets in European countries currently taking place, the ESA, together with other institutions (CEATL, ATLF, etc.), is committed to the creation of a European Translation Fund (see ESA Projects). Each year the ESA prepares a list of under-translated or forgotten books recommended by ten polyglot authors – Finnegan’s List.
The commitment of all members and supporters to the shared conviction that culture transcends language and borders is also evident on our multi-lingual homepage, where the ESA reports on and provides information about the literary and intellectual current events in Europe. Furthermore, a list of the various financial resources (residencies, prizes, fellowships, etc.) is available for authors and translators.
