ABU DHABI – An Arabic translation of “Selina” by Austrian writer Walter Kappacher is expected to be published soon by Kalima, the non-profit initiative funded by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).
Translating the novel that first made the Austrian writer Kappacher well known and received last Saturday the highest award for German-language literature, the George Buechner Prize, is another achievement for Kalima which is dedicated to translate world contemporary literature in to Arabic.
Last week Kalima published the Arabic translation for Nobel prize winner in literature this year the German writer Herta Miller.
“We are proud to introduce a very high profile writer like Kappacher for Arab readers for the first time. This achievement reflects Kalima’s goals to build bridges between cultures in a lively relationship that encourages others to interact with us and give translation movement a dynamic progress as the agreement was made recently with Herta Miller to publish here latest work in Arabic and Dutch” a spokesperson from Kalima said.
Mustafa Suleiman, translation supervisor from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany said “winning the George Buchener Prize is a certification for the writer and his novel and it is a proof that kalima is choosing the most high profile world literature to be translated into Arabic, in the same time it is an excellent chance for Arab readers to discover Kappacher through his most important work “Selina””
The Georg-Buechner Prize, founded in 1951, is considered the most significant literary prize for German literature where recipients are selected based on their contribution to contemporary German cultural life.
The awarding-body, the German Academy for Language and Literature, considered Kappacher a “poetic realist of our day, who ties in with the great story-telling tradition, while at the same time being thoroughly rooted in the present, creates a kind of pull of calm."
Born in 1938 in Salzburg, Kappacher began his working life as a car mechanic. He later began training as an actor and then became a travel agent. It wasn't until he was 40 that Kappacher devoted himself completely to writing.
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