One-Day Conference: Publishing Spanish Writers in English

A comprehensive seminar on the current issues and opportunities for publishing Spanish writers in the U.S.

The conference will gather US book publishers and editors, Spanish professionals, magazine editors, literary critics and agents who deal with Spanish writers for an American readership, together with a select group of institutions offering grants and subsidies from either side of the language divide such as PEN, the NEA and The Spanish Ministry of Culture. This one-day, highly targeted event will explore relevant issues in publishing Spanish writers in the US, and engage a vibrant transatlantic conversation focused on identifying problems, presenting grant programs and promotion awards, and considering new approaches for framing much-needed support.

Pertinent questions will be addressed, such as: Is there a growing appetite among Anglophone readers for Spanish writing? What are the trends in Spanish-language fiction and non-fiction? What are the benefits of splitting rights between the US and the UK? What role do magazines play in establishing new voices in the US? What do reviewers look for in a foreign writer, how do magazines choose what to publish, must it be translated ahead of time and does the reviewer need to have a context of the tradition?

And from editors: What tips the scale in favor of publishing a Spanish writer? What are the principal setbacks when translating? Is there a problem with the business model? Is there a different focus for commercial versus literary writers and how does it affect the role of the translator? Is it hard to get review space for translated fiction? Do blogs or digital magazines make up for that? Where does the most pertinent information on Spanish writing come from: Prizes? Cultural journalism? Agents?

The King Juan Carlos Center at NYU welcomes US professionals who have already published or worked with Spanish-language writers, as well as those who would like to do so in the future, for a frank discussion on how to open an American readership to the burgeoning talent in the contemporary Spanish literary scene. By engaging with each other and networking, we hope to gather the facts, the figures and the much needed information that will help forge new and more suitable initiatives.

Additionally, we offer relevant, state of the market figures on the Spanish publishing sector, information on co-official languages in Spain, and a review of the new editorial and rights map. In short, the conference’s mission is to foster the ongoing transatlantic exchange between Spain and America, and pave new literary passageways between languages and traditions.

Speakers include: Tina Jordan (Vice President, American Association of Publishers), Paz Gaspar (former Director, Cultural Area of Grupo Planeta), Jonathan Galassi (President & Publisher, Farrar Straus & Giroux), Barbara Epler (President & Publisher, New Directions), Isabel Ruiz de Elvira Serra (Subdirección General de Promoción del Libro, la Lectura y las Letras Españolas), Amy Stolls (National Endowment for the Arts), Margaret B. Carson (PEN Translation Committee), Ainhoa Sánchez (Acción Cultural Española), Anna Soler-Pont (Founder & Director, Pontas Literary & Film Agency), Elizabeth Kerr (Editor & Foreign Rights Director, W.W. Norton), Chad Post (Director, Open Letter), Amy Hundley (Rights Director & Editor, Grove Atlantic), Ira Silverberg (Arts & Literature Consultant), Ignacio Dominguez (New Spanish Books), John Freeman (former Editor of Granta), Larry Rohter (The New York Times), Edwin Frank (The New York Review of Books), Willing Davidson (The New Yorker), Lorin Stein (The Paris Review), Johanna Castillo (Vice President & Executive Editor, Atria), Alexis Washam (Senior Editor, Hogarth), Laura Persciasepe (Senior Editor, Riverhead), Sarah Bowlin (Senior Editor, Henry Holt), and Guillermo Corral and Cristina Ruiz (Embassy of Spain, Spain-USA Foundation). Curated by Valerie Miles (Founding Editor of Granta en español).

Reception following conference at the residence of the Consul General of Spain in New York, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Post-conference material