Updated Translation Databases!

I just finally posted the updates to both the 2012 and 2013 translation databases to our Translation Database page.¹

I don’t have a lot to say, analysis-wise, about this most recent update. At the moment, there are 419 titles included for 2013, compared to 452 for 2012. By year’s end, I suspect these will be almost identical, especially considering that there are books I’m aware of—such as forthcoming titles from Frisch & Co.—that I can’t add yet because the ISBN info isn’t available. (Database talk! The ISBN is the primary key, so without anything to enter into that field, I can’t create a record.) Also, the count for December publications (19 in 2013 compared to 34 in 2012) points to the fact that there are releases coming up that haven’t made their way to my desk/inbox or PW.

One thing worth noting is that Dalkey has regained the lead as the number one publisher of translations in the U.S., overtaking AmazonCrossing. How did they do this? Money from the Korean Government! Seriously. Way back when, South Korea signed a deal with Dalkey to publish approximately a shit load of Korean books. The first ten are coming out in November, and with those added in here, Dalkey moves back up into first place with 31 translations of fiction and poetry coming out in 2013.

The thing I’m always interested in are the most translated languages. At the moment, the top 10 are:

French (75)
German (49)
Spanish (49)
Italian (28)
Russian (22)
Swedish (22)
Arabic (17)
Japanese (17)
Norwegian (14)
Korean (13)

KOREA!

That’s an unusually large gap between French and German. For example, last year there were 67 French books and 57 German. Not sure what’s going on there . . .

Enjoy downloading and looking through these, and hopefully you’ll find some interesting books and publishers to check out!

¹ As always, these spreadsheets detail all original translations to come out in English, in the U.S. (either by a U.S. press, or a foreign press with legit U.S. distribution) during the specified time period. And by original I mean books that have never ever ever appeared in any English translation ever ever ever. No retranslations of Proust, no “new editions” comprised of pieces from previously published books, etc. Sometimes I miss things thought—include things that shouldn’t be, or don’t include books that should—so email me at chad.post [at] rochester.edu if you see any errors.