Daring Narratives in European Literature for Children and Youth

ongoing

The project we are presenting consists of the translation to Spanish of five high quality literary books of less represented genres such as children’s and youth books. The five titles belong to lesser used languages (except for one): a Swedish novel, a Finnish graphic novel, a Dutch picture book, a French picture book and a Danish novel. Thus the project aims at strengthening the transnational circulation of high quality literary works in the long term. The texts selected reveal the importance of challenging Children’s and Youth Books (in terms of visual, textual and thematic issues) in order to develop creative, reflexive and critical thinking in European younger generations (essential aspects to strength Democracy and European Values), and how this idea is expressed in contemporary masterpieces of European literature, showing at the same time its richness and diversity. These works are masterpieces by contemporary illustrators and writers that have never been published in the Spanish language before. Both authors and translators of the books selected are award-winning. Among the most important prizes are Astrid Lindgren Prize, August Prize or Translation Prize of The Swedish Academy. The project is focused on reaching a diverse range of audiences, not only through quality translations and wide distribution in the Spanish language book market (Spain, Latin America and US), but also through a strong and rich distribution and promotion plan, adapted to the needs of each title. This plan includes offline and online marketing and actions (presence at book fairs and festival, visits of authors, launches with translators, book trailers, social media strategy...), with an especial attention to the use of digital innovation (digital resources, digital books, metadata improvement). Ultimately the project intends to promote a transcultural dialogue among European countries thanks to the key role of translators and to build bridges among different European societies.