The Austrian Cultural Forum New York aspires to support and enrich contemporary culture both in the United States and in the Republic of Austria. One way to facilitate this cultural exchange is by rendering into English outstanding Austrian literary achievements in order to broaden the horizon of fictional works available to the American audience and to draw people’s attention to the discipline of translation itself. In 2009, we therefore established the Austrian Cultural Forum Translation Prize in collaboration with the Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation and Words Without Borders in 2009. Translators of works written in Austria between 1945 and the present may submit their work to the Translation Prize competition.
The ACF Translation Prize hopes to assist in the challenging task of translating a literary text, which entails not merely linguistically rendering it from German into English, but also conveying concepts and images from one cultural context to another. Hence, translation is an art in itself. The main objective of literature in translation is to reach an audience that would otherwise have no access to it due to language barriers. In recognizing and honoring outstanding translations, our transatlantic jury’s decision is an integral part of this process. With our focus on contemporary literature, we aim to draw attention to the accomplishments of present authors and to shed light on life in modern Austrian society. We hope to assist translators in their creative endeavor and offer the American reader a literary sensibility that is both distinctly Austrian and universally human. The ACF Translation Prize seeks to promote the best of contemporary Austrian literature and hopes to be a vital contribution to the currently slim output of Austrian works in translation available to American audiences. The ACF Translation Prize aspires to facilitate a deeper cultural exchange and to understanding through the shared discipline of translation.
