Translation -> the Cinderella of Literature?

It was said, in publications from two sides of the Atlantic, that native speakers of English have little interest in works that are not written in English. I am not sure if it has more to do with lack of curiosity than ignorance on the existence of such works. Hence, translation is of vital importance. However, good translators are seldom recognised and their work is usually unheralded.

British Council has this very interesting site that talks about translation of original works into other languages. I think anyone seriously interested in literature pay this site a visit.

http://www.literarytranslation.com/

And I recommend reading this highly interesting, and illuminating article on translation of Arabic words to English. And the author mentioned n author's translated works sold more than all his works in Arabic. Talk about international recognition, eh?

"The Cairo trilogy of the Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz has sold more copies in English than the whole of Mahfouz’s work in Arabic."

Click here for the full article.


I personally would continue writing in two languages, for different audiences. And I would love to translate pieces originally written in one language to the other.