IALA’s Israelyan English Translation Grant 2023

Note: The application deadline for our three grants has been extended until October 15, 2023.

The Israelyan English Translation Grant from the International Armenian Literary Alliance (now closed) will award $2,500 to one translator working from Eastern Armenian source texts into English, whose work-in-progress shows exceptional literary and creative ability. In 2023, the grant will be awarded for a work of literature (non-academic work) written in Eastern Armenian and published any time after 1900, and in the coming years, to works written in Western Armenian. This grant will be judged by Dr. Myrna Douzjian, Nairi Hakhverdi and Tatevik Ayvazyan.

Given the traumatic history of the Armenian diaspora, many readers are unable to read works in the original Armenian, and therefore, have centuries of literature inaccessible to them. Translators working with Armenian texts have traditionally lacked resources in the publishing world, as well as access to other funding, due to the overwhelming influence of so-called “majority languages.” IALA’s Israelyan English Translation Grant supports translators working with contemporary Armenian literature 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 – October 15, 2023

The application will include a 5,000 word writing 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 (ie., why they’ve chosen to translate the work that they have selected). The full application will be posted online on September 1, 2023.

The winner will be announced in December 2023.

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

Eligibility and Requirements

Age: Must be over 21 at time of application.
Language: English.
Applicants must be 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 Eastern Armenian.
You may choose to submit any unpublished translation or a translation-in-progress.
The final manuscript of the translation must be completed by July 2024.

Review Criteria

Applications will be reviewed through a “blind” panel process. Judging will be based on:

Literary excellence and originality of the original text; applicants should consider IALA’s dedication to diversity as expressed in our mission and vision statement within this criterion
Both the author’s craft and style and the translator’s adaptation of it; in other words, the quality of the translation in preserving the author’s intent
The author’s importance and relevance in Eastern Armenian literature; and
The relevancy of the work to contemporary readers.

In addition to considering issues of craft, we also prioritize the expression of experiences that haven’t been widely read about, such as those by marginalized writers. We expect the personal statement to also convey how receiving the grant will help the artist in the completion of their project.

Also see IALA’s Israelyan Armenian Translation Grant and IALA’s Creative Writing Grant announcements.