Tribute to teachers, poet James Franco, and a book-cover contest

Happy holidays from all of us here at World Literature Today! This week’s links will keep you busy throughout your holiday downtime.

News, Reviews, and Interviews

English PEN announced the very first winners for the new PEN Translates! program last week.

A new PEN Atlas piece by Tasja Dorkofikis interviews recent Writers in Translation winner Hassan Blasim about his new short-story collection.

Yang Xianhui published a chapter from The Dingxi Orphanage at Words Without Borders last month. 

In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, Andrew Lam posted a tribute to teachers around the world.

Actor, director, and now poet? James Franco will be publishing a collection of poetry through Graywolf Press.

British teenagers will now be able to have more experience with poetry in UK classrooms, thanks to a substantial grant from the UK Department of Education.

Viola Di Grado, author of 70% Acryllic 30% Wool, recently explained her creative process in an interview with Archetype.me.

For Your Calendar

The University of Massachusetts Amhurst is calling for papers for a graduate conference on translation studies that will take place next April.

Do you translate from French to English? Submit your work to the French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation Annual Translation Prize!

Applications to the 2013 Banff International Literary Translation Centre residency program are due by February 15.

Fun Finds and Inspiration

Love German books? The Love German Books blog has a holiday list of this year’s translations. 

Are you an omnivorous reader? NPR’s resident omnivorous reader Nancy Pearl has some book recommendations for you!

Think you know book covers? Prove it and win one book a week for a year (and ultimate bragging rights) from We Love This Book.

Start looking forward to 2013’s promising new books with a list by Conversational Reading.