The Austrian Cultural Forum New York is proud to present the winner of the ACFNY Translation Prize 2010, David Dollenmayer. To celebrate the occasion, we invite you to an evening dedicated to Austrian literature in translation.

Renowned critic Daniela Strigl from Vienna will present the winner of the ACFNY Translation Prize 2010:

David Dollenmayer, a literary translator and professor of German at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, has translated works as varied as Dearest Georg by Elias Canetti (2010), Crossing the Hudson by Peter Stephan Jungk (2009), and House of Childhood by Anna Mitgutsch (2006).

He is being honored for his translation of Michael Köhlmeier’s Idyll With Drowning Dog (Idylle mit ertrinkendem Hund), first published in 2008.

Michael Köhlmeier, author of the panoramic 2007 novel Abendland, is a major Austrian writer whose works deserve wider attention. He has never been translated into English. The novella Idylle mit ertrinkendem Hund was enthusiastically reviewed in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (October 1, 2008), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (November 8, 2008), the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (January 27, 2009), and Die Zeit (April 23, 2009).  Its combination of compelling story, sharply drawn characters, and exquisitely subtle narration has universal appeal. 

Fatima Nagvi (Rutgers University) will lead a conversation on literature in translation, followed by a short reading of the award-winning text. The event will be followed by a reception with authentic Austrian food.

In collaboration with the Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation and Words Without Borders, the ACFNY Translation Prize supports translations of contemporary Austrian fiction, poetry, and drama which have preferably not appeared previously in English with a grant of € 3,000. The award will be disbursed upon the formal acceptance of the manuscript by a publishing house, which must occur within a period of three years.

The trophy for the winner is sponsored by SWAROVSKI GEMS™.

Reservations can be made at http://www.acfny.org/event/394/.