Fiction in Translation in 2008

Three Percent is gearing up for its award for Best Translated Book of 2008 and has put together a list of all translated fiction and poetry books published in 2008 in the U.S. The numbers are shockingly small: 258 fiction and 63 poetry books. These works in translation represent just 0.6% of all new fiction titles published in the U.S. in 2008 and 3.3% of all literature titles. You can access the list from Three Percent, and you can vote for your favorite by commenting on the post or by e-mailing Chad Post (chad.post AT rochester DOT edu). The longlist for the award will be announced in December, the shortlist in January, and the winner in February.

I haven’t yet finished it, but I think I’m going to vote for The Takerby Rubem Fonseca (translated from the Portuguese). The Taker is a collection of frightening and original short stories just published by Open Letter Books. I would be done with the collection already except I had to stop reading it at night before trying to fall asleep.