Open call for submission for the 2021 competition, $1500 in prizes
Submission is Open Now
Rabindranath Tagore (born Robindronath Thakur, 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941; was a Bengali poet, writer, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of the “profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse” of Gitanjali, he became in 1913 the first non-European as well as the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Antonym magazine is proud to announce its 2021 Translation award from Bengali in the name of Tagore who continues to inspire all Indian in general, Bengalis in particular.
Debajyoti Chatterjee, Co-founder of www.immigrantbengalis.com, sponsors the 2021 Award
Key Dates:
Submission opens from 12th June, 2021
Prizes:
1st Prize $500 USD
2nd Prize $300 USD
3RD Prize $200 USD
Up to 10 honorable mentions will receive $50 each
All winning stories will feature in The Antonym online magazine, as well as go in print as an anthology of contemporary Bengali stories.
Submission Rules:
- All submissions will be via antonymmag.submittable.com
- Every submission will attract a fee of $3 USD
- One person can submit multiple entries ( only one submission per person can get a prize)
- The submitted translation should be unpublished in any form
- Translator selects the story keeping the following in mind
- The Original Stories have to be between 1500 to 4000 words
- Only contemporary Bengali stories will be considered for selection
- Literary quality and universal appeal of the story will be key
- The entry needs to carry the original author or the copyright holder’s approval for translation. The approval should be for online publication as well as for the printed book, if selected.
- The submission should include 3 files
Translated work in .doc
Original Bengali story in pdf
Original writer’s authorization
- The translated document uploaded should not carry the name or any identifiable personal information of the translator. If so, the entry will be declined.
Note : If any assistance required for getting original author’s consent, write to [email protected] before submission.
Key Award Guidelines
- Conformity of the translated work with the original text
- Overall Linguistic finesse in the target language
- Minimal grammar or copy errors
Selection Committee Chair – Shamita Das Dasgupta
Shamita Das Dasgupta is a cofounder of Manavi, the first organization to focus on violence against South Asian women in the U.S. She has taught Psychology, Gender Studies, and Law at the Rutgers University and NYU, authored five books, written a bunch of academic papers and monographs. She is also a writer for fiction in Bengali and a translator
Judges
Baret Magarian
Baret Magarian began his career as a freelance journalist, writing reviews and features for The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer and The New Statesman. His first novel The Fabrications was hailed as a novel of considerable daring and originality by The Times Literary Supplement and others. The Dublin Review of Books praised his collection of short fiction, Melting Point, for its power and audacity. His monologue The Pain Tapestry was staged in several countries in Europe.
Neil Ray
Philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Neil Ray was born in a progressive intellectual family during the turbulent 1960s in India. When 9/11 happened just before Neil’s eyes, like millions of others in New York City, he was tormented. The sight of the burning towers and the unbearable agony of those around, posed a simple question — why on earth are we in this crossroad of civilization? This gave birth to his Magnus Opus — ‘The Autobiography of Time.’ He has followed it up with his second book Zoibortikism – Yz factor ans secret debates of the 21st Century.
Pina Piccolo
Pina Piccolo is a poet, translator and cultural activist whose work has appeared both in Italian and English, both in print and online journals and anthologies. She is one of the editors for the Italian language literary journal www.lamacchinasognante.com and the sole editor of the English language, transnational literature and visual arts web magazine www.thedreamingmachine.com. Her Italian poetry collection I canti dell’interregno was published in 2018 by Lebeg edizioni.
I want to be this competition’s a part but how is possible ?
Please go through the details above, all the steps are given in the guidelines
My only question in this regard is – what is the period – span for the word ‘ contemporary ‘? I am all agog to join the competition.
Hope a reply.
Thanks,
Biplab Biswas.
Contemporary literature is defined as literature written after World War II through the current day.
Thanks a lot for clarification.
Having been all agog to participate in the desired competition, I’d like to know the period -span of the word ‘ contemporary ‘.
Hope and thanks.
Biplab Biswas.
Do we have to submit a Translated short story, or a piece of non-fiction? The description says story but the heading says non fiction. Please clarify
Translated short story. Non fiction is the blog category under which the award announcement is published. Hope this clarifies.
It has been mentioned that the original work should have a word count of 1500-4000 words. Is the same word count to be followed for the translated version?
Translation needs to follow the original, word count variation is possible in the translated text.
I am still in a confusion as to how I should pay the entry fee in USD.It would be easier if I can send it in INR as online payment through bank account.
Pl. clarify it.
Thanks.
It will be internally converted by payment system
I’m quite ignorant of this conversion process. I can only send the fee in INR through bank account (online). In this case pl.give me the account details to help me sending the required fee( pl. mention the amount inINR.)
Don’t mind for bothering you.
Thanks.
The payment process is very simple. Just pay like you will do for any transaction in INR, your card will be charged in INR only. If you try and face any issue, let us know
Hello,
I am quite interested to try and translate a contemporary Bengali fiction. My question is, how would I go about getting approval from the original author? Would the team at Antonym be able to assist me in this regard? Thank you! -Anindya Basu
Mail us the story and author details. We will try to get the approval.
Thank you very much!
To which account I am to pay and what amount in INR?
Pl.say in detail.
Thanks.
Pl.give me the account details and the fee amount in INR to expedite my payment.
Thanks.
My query of July 15 has not yet been attended. Pl. give a positive reply.I am ready with my translation.
Hope to be favoured with.
Thanks.
Replied.