We are excited to announce that Les Figues Press has been awarded a PROTRAD (Programa de Apoyo a la Traducción) Grant from the Mexican National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA).

Funds from the grant will support the translation and publication of three works of contemporary Mexican literature, including:

• Antigona Gónzalez, by Sara Uribe, translated by John Pluecker
• Enfermario, by Gabriela Torres Olivares, translated by Jennifer Donovan
• Tela de Savoya, by Myriam Moscona, translated by Jen Hofer & John Pluecker

Grants were awarded to 16 organizations, including 5 Mexican and 11 international publishers. Les Figues Press is one of only 6 publishers worldwide to receive funding in its category, and the only press in the United States to receive an award.

The forthcoming works include an autobiographical novel (Tela de Savoya), a collection of short stories (Enfermario), and a work of documentary theater (Antigona Gónzalez). Together, they represent the richness of contemporary Mexican literature. The books will be released over the next two years.

Enfermario (Torres Olivares) and Antigona Gónzalez (Uribe) will be published as part of Les Figues’ new translation series, edited by scholar and translator Patrick Greaney.

Moscona’s Tela de Savoya will be released as part of Les Figues’ Global Poetics Series. Edited by Teresa Carmody and Vanessa Place, the series publishes innovative poetry and prose from around the world. “The contemporary climate requires broader conversations between readers and writers,” says Executive Director Teresa Carmody. “Given the role of English globally, this award enables Les Figues Press to introduce these important writers to an audience beyond our borders.”

In 2012, Les Figues published Moscona’s Negro Marfil / Ivory Black, translated by Jen Hofer. The book won the 2012 Harold Morton Landon Translation award from the Poetry Society for America, as well as the 2012 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.

For Uribe and Torres Olivares, these translations will be the first time their work is available in English.