ATA Conference
4 November 2006
LD Business Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the ATA Literary Division Meeting
Saturday, November 4, 2006
8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Napoleon A-1, Sheraton Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana

1. Welcome and Introductions
The Administrator (Enrica Ardemagni), Assistant Administrator (Montserrat Zuckerman), Guest Editor of Beacons (Michelle McKay Aynesworth) and all attendees introduced themselves.

The Administrator noted that her position, as well as that of the Assistant Administrator, are for two year terms. One year of their term has passed and therefore elections will be held at next year’s meeting.

2. Appointment of Secretary to Take Minutes
The Assistant Administrator asked for a volunteer to act as secretary for the business meeting and take the minutes. Lisa Carter volunteered and this was placed on the record.

3. Updates on the Literary Division (LD) since Last Conference
The Administrator discussed the need to bring more structure to the LD and provide more information to its members.

a) Increase in Membership
Membership in 2005 was 254, while as of October 30 it is 1115. The increase is due, in part, to the change in fee structure (ATA members can now join as many divisions as they like under the one membership fee).

b) Website
A website has been designed through the ATA to keep it in line with other division sites and has been approved by the ATA Board of Directors. It is not live yet, but will be very soon. The Administrator went through a demo of the website and was open to discussing recommendations.

Discussion ensued regarding copyright issues if past and present editions of Beacons and Source are put online.

c) Call for Webmaster
The LD website needs a webmaster to replace the interim webmaster within one month. There is no stipend, it would be done on a purely volunteer basis. A description is available and will be posted on the website once it is live.

d) Call for Editor of Newsletter, Source
Cliff Landers edited the newsletter for many years. However, there was no editor in 2005 and a call has gone out for one through an ATA communiqué. There is a stipend for service as editor. Anyone interested is to contact Enrica Ardemagni.

2006-2007 Guest Editor for Beacons
Beacons currently has 9 volumes published. Cliff Landers was the first editor and wrote an introduction called “In a New Light.” It was proposed and agreed upon that this essay be included in all future issues. Michelle McKay Aynesworth will be the 2006-2007 Guest Editor.

Alexis Levitin edited Beacons for three years. No issue was published last year, although submissions had been received. It was the ATA’s decision to move from a print edition to an online edition.

Motion by Marilyn Gaddis Rose and Phyllis Zatlin: I move that those present
endorse a request to the Board to have Alexis Levitin complete Volume 10 as a print
edition. Seconded by Peter Krawutschke.
Voice vote taken; motioned passed unanimously.

4. Changes in Beacons and Call for Submissions
Michelle McKay Aynesworth showed the logo that was designed for the Beacons 10, to be published in the fall of 2007 and introduced the editorial board to date. John Balcom (Chinese); Eval Claeson (Swedish); Michael Scott Doyle (English/Spanish); Marilyn Gaddis Rose (French); Ingrid Lansford (Danish, German); Breon Mitchell (German); Doug Robinson (Finnish); Marian Schwartz (Russian); and Liliana Valenzuela (English/Spanish).

3 new sections are planned:
Introducing – a seasoned translator introducing a new author
Newcomers – for literary translators who’ve published fewer than fifty pages
Se habla español – translations from English into Spanish

The Call for Submissions was approved by the ATA lawyer and will be online soon; it was also distributed at the meeting and reads as follows:

Translations of fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction are now being accepted for the 2007 edition of Beacons, the annual peer-reviewed journal of world literature in translation published by the Literary Division of the American Translators Association. Beacons will go on-line for the first time in Fall 2007. Guidelines will be posted at the ATA Web site. Submissions may be sent to
Michele Aynesworth at mmaynesworth@htu.edu.
Deadline: March 1, 2007

If there are any suggestions on how to refine the guidelines, they can be sent to Michelle by e-mail. Submissions have already been received and Michelle is hoping to see French translations from African authors.

Beacons will be published online and a print on demand copy is being negotiated. The print on demand copy will only include the translation, not the original, for cost purposes as they are hoping to keep it to a price of $15.

A discussion ensued regarding whether poetry translations would be published en face online. Michelle said it was suggested that it not be displayed that way so as not to interrupt the reading of the English, but the original text would be available through a link. There was a suggestion that it may be quite possible for the webmaster to design it in such a way that readers could choose how to view the texts.

5. Mission Statement
The Administrator and Assistant Administrator had drafted the Mission Statement and Purpose for discussion at the meeting. Discussion ensued and revisions were made.

Motion by Marilyn Gaddis Rose: I move to accept the Mission Statement.
Seconded by Marian Schwartz
Voice vote taken; motioned passed unanimously.

Friendly amendments then ensued and the final Mission Statement is as follows:

The mission of the ATA Literary Division is to uphold excellence and ethical standards within the profession, to advocate fair and just treatment of literary translators by authors, agents, publishers, and reviewers, to promote recognition of literary translators, to encourage cooperation with other literary translation organizations, and to provide support and guidance to literary translators as a community.

Motion by Michelle MacKay Aynesworth: I move to accept the Purpose.
Seconded by Luis Salvago-Toledo.
Voice vote taken; motioned passed unanimously.

The final Purpose Statement is as follows:

The purpose of the Division is to further cooperation and exchange of information among its members; organize meetings, workshops and conference activities related to literary translation; encourage and promote cooperation with similar organizations; advocate fair and just treatment of literary translators by authors, agents, publishers and reviewers; publicize professional development opportunities; and promote the policies and the objectives of the Division and the Association.

6. Bylaws
The bylaws have been sent for approval by the ATA Board of Directors. Once this been done, the Division will vote to adopt them, hopefully at next year’s meeting.

7. Old Business
There was no old business to discuss.

8. New Business
The Administrator called for a Secretary of the LD to be voted on by the members. No e-mail voting can be allowed under the bylaws. Given that there are no bylaws in force, a secretary can be appointed and the Administrator asked for volunteers. Lisa Carter volunteered and was placed on the record as Secretary until voting can take place at next year’s meeting.

The Administrator noted that a Nominating Committee needs to be set up by March 31, 2007 for the posts of Administrator, Sub-Administrator and Secretary. Committee members must be members of the ATA and the Literary Division and names must be put forward for the posts 16 weeks before the next meeting. The Administrator called for volunteers to be on the committee.

Motion by Marilyn Gaddis Rose: I move that the current Administrator nominate a committee.
Seconded by Marian Schwartz.
Voice vote taken; motioned passed unanimously.

The Administrator noted that she will accept recommendations, that there must be an odd number of committee members, and that she would prefer members come from various languages, as well as new and old members.

9. Questions and Answers
Peter Krawutschke noted that he was troubled that the division’s primary publication, Beacons, would be online while the secondary publication, Source, would also be in print. He volunteered to speak to the ATA Board of Directors about this matter.

Discussion ensued regarding funding sources if it were to be printed, an ISBN number and online versus print.

Meeting adjourned.

Submitted by: Lisa Carter, Secretary