Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 20, 2007|Volume 35, Number 26

Yale University Press director John Donatich (left) is pictured here with Ted and Cecile Margellos, whose gift has established a new book series.

Gift will launch major new series at Yale Press

Yale University Press has received a gift from Cecile and Theodore Margellos for the establishment of an endowed fund to support a major new publishing series of foreign literatures in translation.

The Cecile and Theodore Margellos World Republic of Letters series will be dedicated to making literary works from around the globe available in English through translation.

The series will identify works of cultural and artistic significance previously overlooked by translators and publishers, canonical works of literature and philosophy needing new translations, as well as important contemporary authors whose work has not yet been translated into English. The initiative is designed to bring to the English-speaking world leading poets, novelists, essayists, philosophers and playwrights from Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East to stimulate international discourse and creative exchange.

The first books signed in the series include: "Five Flavor Grove" by Can Xue, considered one of the distinctive voices of contemporary Chinese fiction; "The Selected Poems of Umberto Saba," a new verse translation of the renowned Italian poet's work; "The Selected Poems of Adonis," a roundup of poems by the celebrated Syrian-born poet and essayist; and the selected poems of the Greek poet Kiki Dimoula.

John Donatich, director of the Yale Press, said: "The great ambition of this series will allow Yale University Press to help reverse the trend against literary translations, that virtual censorship that further insulates our culture. Personally, the program affords me and other editors in the Press the opportunity to fulfill a career dream as well as giving the press at large another way to contribute to a world culture."

Cecile and Ted Margellos also shared their vision for the series, saying, "Our strongest belief is that Babel was a blessing, since each and every language reveals another vision of our world's infinite reality. Our dearest wish is, through great translation, to bring these visions together."

Donatich and Jonathan Brent, editorial director and publisher of trade books at Yale Press, will serve as general editors of the series; consulting editors will include Umberto Eco, Orhan Pamuk, Charles Simic and Elie Wiesel, among others. Publication of the books will begin in Yale University Press' centenary year, 2008.

The Whitney Humanities Center at Yale will organize events that both promote individual volumes and showcase the series as a whole. Every year, the center will host the author (when possible) and translator of a selected volume for a two- or three-day visit to Yale's campus, and organize a bilingual reading from the new volume, a reception, media opportunities and a book signing.

Cecile Inglessis Margellos is a scholar, literary translator and critic. Theodore Margellos is managing director and co-founder of the Ilta Group, a private equity firm. They are the parents of Iliodora Margellos, a member of the Yale College Class of 2006.

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