Scouting, Translating, and Publishing Young Adult Literature from Latin America

The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing in partnership with Outside in World, the organisation dedicated to promoting and exploring world literature and children’s books in translation, are delighted to announce the latest event in their seminar series on translation for children:

Speakers: Claire Storey (Translator/ World Kid Lit) and Rosemarie Hudson (HopeRoad Publishing)

This seminar is a hybrid event (in-person & on Zoom) and is free & open to all.

To register for the Zoom link, please click here. 

To join us in person, come to Room 104, Palmer Building, University of Reading (Whiteknights campus), RG6 6EW

In 2021, Claire Storey (Translator/ World Kid Lit) applied for funding from Arts Council England for a project focusing on translating and pitching Young Adult literature from Latin America to UK publishers. In this webinar, she will discuss her project, how she identified Latin America as her focus area, how she pitched the project to UK publishers and what she has learned about scouting and pitching along the way.

Claire will be joined by Rosemarie Hudson (HopeRoad Publishing) who will talk about why she set up HopeRoad Publishing in 2010 and how three of the titles from Claire’s project fitted with her publishing objectives: Never Tell Anyone Your Name by Federico Ivanier (Uruguay), The Darkness of Colours by Martín Blasco (Argentina) and The Wild Ones by Antonio Ramos Revillas (Mexico). Rosemarie and Claire will also discuss how their relationship as publisher and translator has grown and been mutually beneficial.

♣

Claire Storey – translates from German and Spanish into English, specialising in middle grade and young adult literature. In 2021/22, she was awarded funding from Arts Council England for a translation project focusing on Young Adult Literature from Latin America. From 2019-2023, Claire was co-editor of the blog at World Kid Lit and remains involved in the project highlighting translated books for you people. Claire also acts as an international book scout, seeking out and presenting suitable Spanish and German-language books to English-speaking publishers. Claire regularly volunteers in schools talking about careers with languages and was named Outreach Champion 2021 by the UK Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

Jamaican/British Rosemarie Hudson grew up in London and it’s where she founded her first independent publishing company BlackAmber in 1998. Its ethos was to publish unheard voices in English and international languages, and in particular the best writers and writings from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Its aim she’s pursued ever since. She published many authors to critical acclaim during this period including Patricia Cumper; Alex Wheatle; Cauvery Madhavan; Rachel Manley; Yvonne Brewster and Gaston-Paul Effa, before her company was bought out. Often called a ‘trailblazer’,

Rosemarie is a keen and experienced mentor, serving on the board of the Book Trade Charity (BTBS) for six years and mentoring on the Arts Council project, Decibel.

About HopeRoad
In 2010 Rosemarie Hudson founded HopeRoad, the indie publisher which loves to share untold stories around identity, cultural stereotyping and injustice, and specialises in encouraging new talent and promoting the best literary voices from and about Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. HopeRoad’s authors include: Tahar Ben Jelloun; Kamala Markandaya: Cauvery Madhavan; Pete Kalu; Ferdinand Dennis; Yan Ge, Max Lobe; Véronique Tadjo, Igiaba Scego, John Agard and Tony Fairweather to name a few. Rosemarie is also a board member of Inpress Books. She is excited about the future for HopeRoad and very much looking forward to celebrating its forthcoming 15th anniversary.