If it wasn’t already apparent, I’m Canadian. All of the works I have ever translated have been for U.S. publishers and, while I think that has been very much to my professional advantage, that I am excluded by the Canadian system does bother me at times.
We have a wonderful but terribly underfunded agency, The Canada Council for the Arts. Our current (ultra) Conservative government finds the Arts too highbrow, unnecessary, and funding is pitiful compared to the wealth of talent we have.
Though not new, I only recently discovered that one of our most brilliant writers, Yann Martel, author of The Life of Pi, sends our Prime Minister a new book every two weeks on this premise: “No doubt being Prime Minister fills his entire consideration and froths his sense of busied importance to the very brim. And no doubt he sounds and governs like one who cares little for the arts. But he must have moments of stillness. And so this is what I propose to do: not to educate—that would be arrogant, less than that—to make suggestions to his stillness.” I love it.
While we are lucky to have the CCA, and I heartily encourage more funding for it, I must admit I’m also a little miffed with them: they still refuse to consider translators as artists in their own right. There are excellent translation grants for up to (Canadian) $25,000, paying $0.18 to $0.25 per word – a very good rate by most literary translation standards. But the catch is that, not only must the translator be Canadian, the *author* and the *publisher* must also be Canadian. I understand the reasoning behind this, but if we were considered artists in our own right, would a translation grant for a work from abroad not also further their cause by promoting Canadian artists?? I’m Canadian! I’m an artist!
Where I do feel particularly proud is with respect to our copyright organization, Access Copyright. Here we are on par with Europe and far ahead of the United States, in that copyright is licensed to businesses, organizations and establishments throughout the country in order to give copyright holders their due(s). If you are a Canadian who holds copyright on any publication, by registering with them you will be entitled to payment for your works. “Through its licensing framework, Access Copyright provides users with access to valuable content while passing the royalties on to creators – like you.”
Three of my six works are registered with them thus far (registration is only once a year, from February to May, so there can be a delay depending on when your books are published). Each year they poll libraries and for 2009, I was thrilled to see that my books are readily available across Canada: The Matter of Desire is in 3 out of 7, Turing’s Delirium in 6 out of 7, and Everything Under the Sky in 7 out of 7!
I never remember when Access Copyright payments are made and am thus always pleasantly surprised to see a sudden deposit in my account or a cheque in the mail. This year I earned over $600! It’s a wonderful thing to know my books are out there, and that I will reap the rewards of that personally and financially.
Care to share your thoughts on the arts, translation and copyright, here or elsewhere?
