IALA 2024 Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant

The Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant from the International Armenian Literary Alliance will award $3,000 to one translator working from English source text into Eastern Armenian, whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. In 2024, the grant will be awarded for a work of contemporary literature written by an Armenian in English. The complete list of texts which we would like to see translated feature authors who represent and support the Armenian literary community; their works were selected for their diversity in voices and subject matters.

Despite the growing number of translated works from English to Eastern Armenian in recent years, translated literature remains an area that needs further attention and development. IALA’s Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant supports translators working with literature written in the English language through a monetary award. Additionally, IALA will support grant recipients in promoting their publications through marketing on our website and social media channels, book reviews, readings and discussions.

Application Period: September 1-30, 2024

The application will include a 5,000 word translation sample from the work the translator intends to use the grant to complete, a brief bio, and a personal statement summarizing the translator’s relationship to the work (i.e., why they’ve chosen to translate the work that they have selected). The full application will be posted online on September 1, 2024, and the winner will be announced in December 2024.

This grant was made possible by a generous donation from Souren A. Israelyan.

Eligibility and Requirements

Age: Must be over 21 at the time of application.
Language: Eastern Armenian.
Applicants must be active members of IALA at the time of application. For those on a low income or who are unemployed, we offer several discounted or free memberships per year.
Not open to members of the IALA board of directors or advisory board.
No previous publication record is required.
Applicants may submit one application per year. Those who are not awarded the grant may re-apply in the future. Grant recipients are ineligible to re-apply for two years.
Source texts must be written in English, and selected only from the list provided below.
The final manuscript of the translation must be completed by December 2025.

Review Criteria

Applications will be reviewed through a “blind” panel process. Judging will be based on the translator’s adaptation of the author’s craft and style; in other words, the quality of the translation in preserving the author’s intent.

In addition to considering issues of craft, we also prioritize the expression of individuals coming from unique and marginalized backgrounds. We are interested in the translator’s connection with the source work. We expect the personal statement to convey how receiving the grant will help the translator in the completion of their project.

Titles to Translate

FICTION

- Nancy Agabian, The Fear of Large and Small Nations (2023)
- Carol Edgarian, Rise the Euphrates (1994)
- Mashinka Firunts Hakopian, The Institute for Other Intelligences (2022)
- Nancy Kricorian, Dreams of Bread and Fire (2003)
- Nancy Kricorian, All the Light There Was (2013)
- Naira Kuzmich, In Everything I See Your Hand (2022)
- Chris McCormick, The Gimmicks (2020)
- Aline Ohanesian, Orhan’s Inheritance (2015)
- Aida Zilelian, The Legacy of Lost Things (2015)

NONFICTION

- Nancy Agabian, Me as Her Again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter (2008)
- Aram Mrjoian, We Are All Armenian (2023)
- Nadia Owasu, Aftershocks (2020)