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Paul Celan Fellowships for Translators

1. Objective

The Paul Celan Fellowship Program of IWM and ERSTE Foundation aims to help overcome deficits and asymmetries in the exchange of ideas and reception of scholarly literature which result from the division of Europe in the 20th century.

Therefore, the Paul Celan Fellowships support East-West, West-East and East-East translations of canonical texts as well as contemporary key works in the Humanities, Social Sciences and in the field of Cultural Studies. Special emphasis is put on translations of relevant works written by East European authors and/or by female scholars. A thematic relation to one of the IWM ’s research fields is likewise welcomed.

Please note that no applications for works of fiction and poetry are being accepted.

2. Conditions

Paul Celan Visiting Fellows are invited to spend three to six months at the IWM between July 2011 and June 2012 to pursue their translation projects while working in residence at the Institute. Fellows receive a monthly stipend in the amount of EUR 2,250 to cover all expenses related to the stay in Vienna.

The IWM provides a personal office with internet access, in-house research facilities and other relevant sources in Vienna. Paul Celan Visiting Fellows participate in the scholarly community and activities of the IWM.

3. Application

The application consists of (in English or German):

• the application form
• a curriculum vitae with a bibliography of translations and other relevant publications
• the name of the author and the work to be translated (from the original language) and an explanation for the choice thereof
• the exact number of pages
• a contract or a letter of intent from a publisher
• proof that the translator/publisher holds the rights to the translation and its publication (or has an option for them)
• the planned date of publication
• information on the program of the publishing house

For further details please see:
http://www.iwm.at/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=93

Deadline for application is February 11, 2011.

Please send the application by mail to:

Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen
Fellowship Coordinator
Spittelauer Lände 3
1090 Wien
Austria

Advance copies by e-mail are accepted:

fellowships@iwm.at  
Subject header: Paul Celan Fellowships
Please send your application materials as PDF files.

Applicants will be notified of the jury decision in spring 2011.
The jury is not required to justify its decisions.

Jury

• Gottfried Boehm (Chair) - Professor of Modern Art History, University of Basel; Non-Resident Permanent Fellow of the IWM
• Endre Bojtar Literary - Scholar and Head of the Department of Central and Eastern European Literatures, Institute of Literary Studies, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest
• Jutta Braidt - Head of ERSTE Foundation Library, Vienna
• Peter Demetz - Sterling Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, Yale University, New Haven
• Diana M. Mishkova - Director, Centre for Advanced Study Sofia
• Klaus Nellen - Managing Editor of Transit; Permanent Fellow, IWM
• Martin Pollack - Writer and translator, Wien/Bocksdorf (Burgenland)

Background

For decades the political and cultural division of Europe deeply impaired the East-West reception of literature and debates in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Since 1989 conditions for intellectual production in Central and Eastern Europe have significantly improved. As a result, important works were published which, however, have not yet found the attention they deserve in the West.

With their transdisciplinary and comparative approach, Cultural Studies have become one of the most productive and innovative fields of contemporary research, which has successfully expanded to Eastern Europe. But although Cultural Studies are particularly conducive to intercultural understanding, translations of key texts in this discipline are still rare in both directions, East and West. Scholarly works written by female authors and/or on gender issues are generally underrepresented on the translation balance sheet between East and West.

Against this background the IWM has initiated its translation program in 1987. After two decades of successful work ERSTE Foundation joined in as a partner of the Paul Celan Fellowships for Translators. With this newly established cooperation, focus and scope of the program were adapted and expanded in order to incorporate the recent changes in the intellectual landscape of Europe.

Materials

Application form (158 kb)
Application form (53 kb)
2011/2012 — Call for Applications (181 kb)