Publishing and Literary Translation in Canada
by Patricia Claxton


The English-language book market in Canada, because of its small size, is seen by American and British publishers as a mere extension of their own markets. Similarly, the French publishing world sees the Quebec market as an extension as that of France. In Canada, we are delighted if we sell 2000 copies of a book, whether in English or French, and the sales of a book of poetry may often be as little as 100 copies, or even 50.

Our domestic literary publishing industry must constantly struggle for survival, and not all English- or French-language publishers have dared to take the additional financial risk involved in publishing translations. If literary translation has nonetheless been able to develop to a degree in a country where the demographic situation does not offer a large market in either English or French, it is because translation from French to English and from English to French has for some thirty years been subsidized in order to increase mutual understanding between the country's two main linguistic communities.

Some publishers have made considerable efforts to put out literary translations. In English, since 1947 with the publication of The Tin Flute, the translation of Gabrielle Roy's Bonheur d'occasion, McClelland & Stewart has published translations of all but one of Roy's important works. The English version of La Détresse et l'enchantement was published in 1987 by Lester and Orpen Dennys under the title Enchantment and Sorrow. That publisher ceased to exist some five years later, betrayed by a financial partner who had posed as a white knight. These two houses also published other translations from French and, occasionally, other languages. Coach House Press, a publisher of poetry and avant-garde books, also ceased to exist four or five years ago, but has been replaced, phoenix-like, by Coach House Books, which is continuing the tradition its predecessor established, including the publishing of translations. Talon Books, in Vancouver, first published Michel Tremblay's Les Belles Soeurs in English and has since specialized in English translations of Quebec drama; it has an impressive list of translations that also includes works in other genres; translations make up 23 per cent of its total list for all genres. It is difficult to provide an exhaustive list of publishers of literary translations in English, but others include Véhicule, Cormorant, Oberon, Exile, House of Anansi, Guernica, and Pottersfield Press.

French-language publishers of translations include Boréal, XYZ, Hurtubise HMH, Québec-Amérique, Pierre Tisseyre, Éditions de l'Homme, Éditions du Jour, Fides, and Leméac, as well as Éditions de la courte Échelle, a publisher of children's literature, which is distinguished by the fact that it is not subsidized. Since its creation in 2001, this house has published 35 books, a high proportion of which are translations from 10 languages; 20 per cent of its authors are from Quebec and write in French; 80 per cent of its sales are in France.

In the 1950s, English Canada displayed growing interest in Quebec culture. The Tin Flute (Bonheur d'occasion), a translation by New Yorker Hannah Josephson published in 1947, had enchanted English Canada and had won that year's Governor General's Literary Award. This represented a major breakthrough for the publishing of translations in Canada.

In 1957, following the report of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (the Massey Commission), the Canada Council for the Arts was created. Under its Book Publishing Support Program, the Canada Council has provided support for translation ever since, initially on an ad hoc basis and then, starting in 1972, through the translation grant program we are familiar with today. The program has transformed the landscape of literature translated from English to French and from French to English. It should be noted that works written by Canadians in other languages and translated into French or English are also included in this program.

Translation grants are never given to translators, only to publishers. This does not mean that the Canada Council ignores literary translators. The Literary Translator's Association of Canada (LTAC), founded in 1975, has always cultivated good relations with the Council, especially the Writing and Publication Section, which administers the translation grant program. There have been cases, for example, when a publisher has wanted to withhold a portion of the payment to a translator for “editing costs.” But gradually, thanks to the information the LTAC has been able to obtain on particular cases, the opinions we have occasionally given, and, I believe, our good will and sincerity, the Canada Council has established a certain number of rules that publishers must observe with regard to translators. As another example, in the beginning some publishers used to claim that the grant application form bearing the translator's name was sufficient as a contract. But for some years now, a formal, written contract with the translator has been required; the publisher must provide a copy of the contract in order to obtain the grant.

Translation grants were initially set at a rate of $0.05 per word for all literary genres. In the 1980s, this was increased to $0.10 per word, and some ten years later, to $0.12. Recently the Canada Council recognized that translation of certain genres was more difficult, and set a rate $0.20 for poetry and $0.16 for drama. Still more recently, it increased the rate for other genres to $0.14 per word.

To be eligible for a grant, a publishing house must be at least 75 per cent Canadian owned; this means a certain number of publishers, mainly English-language, are ineligible.

The Canada Council's translation grant program has made possible the publication of hundreds of books in Quebec and Canada; according to the Council's statistics, the total number reached 2220 in 2005. A closer look at these statistics shows some interesting facts. In non-fiction, there has been a greater interest in translation into French. In fiction, there was greater interest in translation into English until 1984, and since then approximately equal interest on both sides, with slightly more translations into English. In drama, there have been few translations into French; there was a spate of translations into English in the third year of the program, and then more modest but still regular publication of drama translations up to 1995, and then nothing except in 1998, 2000, and 2001, with three, one, and two translations respectively; there has been a single drama translation into French in these ten years. In children's literature, there has been interest in translation into French from the fifth year on, and a spurt of interest on both the French and English sides in 1988, but in general, greater interest on the French side. In poetry, there has been little interest in translation into French, and often no translations at all; on the English side, interest in poetry translation has been more sustained but still modest, and sometimes nil.

The total amount paid in grants annually between 1995 and 2004 varied between $417,510 (1995) and $675,450 (2001). It should be noted that for the first two years of this period, the government had substantially reduced the budget of the Canada Council.

In Quebec there is now another source of support for translation: SODEC, the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles. Its objectives are:

· to support the translation of Quebec works
· to stimulate the export of Quebec literature outside Quebec and increase its visibility
· to encourage the sale of rights to foreign publishers and promote the exploration of new markets

A publishing house must present a project involving a translation of a work by a Quebec author from French or English into the other, or into any other language. SODEC does not fund projects that are already funded by the Canada Council. The financial support may reach 75 per cent of the cost of translation, including editing, up to a maximum of $12,500. The rates paid to the translators and editors are those normally paid for the category of work in the country where the translator lives.

SODEC is thus a funding source for publishers that are ineligible for the Canada Council translation program, some of whom, at least in English Canada, are very interested in translation.
I myself had the privilege of benefiting from a SODEC grant to Éditions du Boréal on contract with Alfred A. Knopf Canada for A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, by Gil Courtemanche.

Publishing of literary translations is not limited to books; there are also periodicals. For example, ellipse publishes translations of French and English poems side by side with the original versions as well as essays on the poets. Translit, a result of collaboration between the LTAC and the Alberta Translator's and Interpreters' Association, publishes poetry and prose in translation with the original versions. Other periodicals, such as Exile and Prairie Fire, also publish translations into English and Liberté, Estuaire and Contre Jour publish translations into French.

The LTAC works to promote recognition of literary translators. We fought long and hard to have translations included in the Copyright Act. We struggle constantly to make literary critics, the publishing world and the public aware that literary translators have the right (and not merely the privilege) to have our names associated with our translations. More and more often now, the translator's name is shown on the title page of the book, and the copyright sign acknowledges that the translator holds the copyright to the translation. Sometimes the translator's name even appears on the book's cover.

We were instrumental, in partnership with our U.S. and Mexican sister associations, in establishing the prestigious Banff International Literary Translation Centre, the only centre of its kind in North America, which provides residencies for literary translators from all over the world.

The LTAC works on all fronts to promote literary translation.


Patricia Claxton
(adaptation by Phyllis Aronoff of a talk given at the OTTIAQ conference of November 25, 2005, during the panel “L'Édition, milieu aux multiples horizons”)