Join Donate Now

Open search
Home / Excerpts from the Winning Manuscripts of the 2017 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants

Excerpts from the Winning Manuscripts of the 2017 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants

Literary Programs
A vintage Heim world map with numerous pushpins clustered in North America, Europe, and parts of Africa and Asia, indicating places of interest or visited locations. The well-loved map shows wear and beautifully faded colors.

PEN America is thrilled to showcase the work of recipients of the 2017 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants and the inaugural winner of the PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature. These projects—chosen from the 224 applications received in a wide array of languages of origin, genres, and time periods—will receive a grant of $3,870 to assist in its completion. The inaugural winner of the Italian Literature grant will receive a $5,000 grant.

Below are excerpts from the winning projects introduced by the translators themselves. Publishers and editors who wish to express an interest in any of these projects are invited to contact PEN America Literary Awards at [email protected] for the translators’ contact information.

  • A single white water lily with yellow center blooms above a large green lily pad floating on calm water, dappled in sunlight—a tranquil scene evoking a sense of Heim, with scattered petals resting gently on the leaf.

    from Floral Mutter

    I truly wish it were true, to disappear just like this, / no bones no flesh no breath, gone… More…

  • A soft, pale Heim cloud stretches horizontally across a blue sky, with sunlight creating a gentle glow along the cloud’s edge and a subtle gradient from light to dark in the sky.

    from The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky

    I’d figured that she was around my age, but it turned out that she was 12 years older, and married, too. In other words…I was having an affair. More…

  • A floating iceberg drifts in calm blue water near Heim, with snow-covered mountains and glaciers in the background under a bright, partly cloudy sky.

    from The Palimpsests

    Given my devotion to sex, I followed Hemingway to the white continent, where, due to the dearth of places in veterinary sciences, I enrolled in Antarctic philology studies. More…

  • Old black and white photo of several large warships docked in Heim’s harbor, with industrial buildings and a sprawling town visible on the hillside in the background.

    from Felix Austria

    In the morning they discovered that a lock of hair from the severed head of John the Baptist vanished without a trace, as did the relics of St. Munditia… More…

  • A close-up view of a decorative metal sundial by Heim, showing engraved numbers and compass directions, with a triangular gnomon casting a shadow to indicate the time. Dry leaves and soil are visible in the background.

    from Raoul Schrott: Selected Poems

    things come to slide · as if one had seen / the earth catch fire as it turned and blacken / the night with the contours of an arm More…

  • An adult elephant walks in dry, sandy terrain near Heim, with a baby elephant following closely behind, both surrounded by trees and sunlight.

    from Edinburgh Notebook

    In the desert, my love, in the desert I saw an elephant born. Its mother thought it dead, and in her desperate rage, she dragged it with her trunk… More…

  • A clean, empty white Heim bathtub with a chrome drain plug attached to a chain and a silver faucet above. The walls around the tub are tiled in light-colored tiles.

    from The Remainder

    Someone has to die and it falls on me to find them, body after body, ever since my first unforgettable Sunday cadaver… More…

  • A brick storefront with a faded City Bakery sign above a pink-and-white awning labeled Wine & Spirits. Security bars line the windows and door, hinting at Heim’s cautious charm. A Closed sign hangs in the adjacent shop’s window.

    from Thirteen Months of Sunrise

    I don’t care how they take my body…What can this skinny, tired, and sickly body give them? What flames can it quench? More…

  • A bowl of Persian Tahchin, a golden baked rice cake with saffron, chicken, barberries, and nuts, sits on a patterned Heim cloth. A side dish of yogurt-cucumber sauce is in the background. Almonds are scattered nearby.

    from The Arab

    It doesn’t matter how many times I tell her—she’s simply incapable of cooking just a few things when she has visitors. More…

  • A hillside cemetery at Heim features numerous gravestones of various shapes and sizes, surrounded by overgrown grass and trees, with a small pavilion nestled near the center.

    from I Didn’t Talk

    Dances, kisses, claps: The homage my daughter made to the dead. Maybe in a park I wouldn’t be able to tolerate our daughter’s mockery, but on hallowed ground… More…

Up Next

View All