Marianna Suleymanova will receive the 2024 Momentum Grant for Early-Career Translators, Words Without Borders announced today. The grant recognizes Suleymanova’s translation from Russian of the short story collection She-Bear by Evgeniya Nekrasova. This powerful, searing report on the state of Russian society amid Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine offers a stunning exploration of the limits women face and the powers they summon to transcend them. In the absence of civil society, other forces step in to help the female protagonists overcome the seemingly insurmountable barriers in their paths. Suleymanova’s proposal was selected from 133 submissions by the judge, the acclaimed translator from Arabic Sawad Hussain.
“The short story ‘Mordovian Cross’ stayed with me,” said Hussain. “I was drawn to the haunting atmosphere of the writing and the dark humor—which I’m a huge fan of! I also think this project, taking into consideration all that’s happening in the world today, is an urgent one.”
Marianna Suleymanova is a literary translator from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, currently living in Philadelphia. She is a contributing translator to ROAR (Russian Oppositional Arts Review) Magazine, an anti-war publication founded by the writer Linor Goralik. She enjoys rendering the voices of contemporary feminist and queer Russian-language writers in English and is committed to amplifying suppressed narratives and dissident voices.
Suleymanova said, “I am thankful for the material support the Momentum Grant will provide me in the process of finding a publisher for She-Bear that will appreciate Nekrasova’s unique, unflinching, and brutally honest perspective on modern-day Russian realities amid the barbaric war launched by Russia against Ukraine. There has been no better time for Nekrasova’s brilliant, compassionate, stylistically unique, and genuinely magical work to reach English-speaking readers. It is especially moving to have my translation recognized by Sawad Hussain, whose work and literary palate I deeply admire.”
The Momentum Grant supports the completion of a sample of a book-length work of prose translation suitable for submission to English-language publishers. Focused on underrepresented voices and source languages, it is awarded to an emerging translator who has not yet published a book-length translation. An excerpt of Suleymanova’s winning sample translation will be published in Words Without Borders, and she will receive a $3,000 grant, funded by the Malecha Family Foundation.
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For additional information, please contact:
Contact: Anna Claire Weber
Organization Name: Words Without Borders
Email Address: press@wordswithoutborders.org
Website Address: www.wordswithoutborders.org
Twitter and Instagram: @wwborders
Facebook: @wordswithoutborders
