Mercedes Corral has been awarded this Monday with the National Award for the Work of a Translator, and Agata Orzeszec and Ernesto Rubio have been awarded the National Award for Best Translation for their work with the work The books of Jacob, by Olga Tokarczuk. Each of the prizes is worth 30,000 euros. The jury recognizes Corral for “an outstanding and extensive career spanning four decades and for the literary quality with which he has been able to imbue, with talent and effectiveness, excellent translations from French and Italian with the right narrative tone and the necessary dose of passion.” ”. In addition, it highlights “its exceptional work in favor of promoting reading among the youngest, showing and bringing children closer to the world of languages and the complicated task of its professionals.”
While Orzeszec and Rubio, in relation to The books of Jacob, stands out “the admirable way in which they resolve the enormous challenges posed by the translation of what is considered the magnum opus of the Nobel Prize-winning Polish writer, a milestone of enormous contribution to our culture and our language.” Likewise, it is noted that “they have known how to weave Tokarzcuk’s complex and multifaceted text with excellence, with countless layers and a difficult, but lyrical style, without losing the richness of the original, while at the same time transferring the language of Poland of the 18th century without falling into anachronisms.”
Mercedes Corral (1954) has a degree in Hispanic Philology and a literary translator from Italian and French since 1985. Since 2006 she has directed the activity The adventure of translatingwith the aim of showing children the world of languages and translation. The original texts of Dino Buzzati, Natalia Ginzburg, Elio Vittorini, Italo Svevo, JMG Le Clezio, Agnes Desarthe, Romain Gary, Marquise Colombi, Machiavelli, Georges Simenon and Bernard Henry-Levi, among others, have passed through his hands.
Agata Orzeszek was born in Warsaw (Poland) in 1953, although she has Spanish nationality. Graduated with a degree in Neophilology and specialized in Spanish philology from the University of Warsaw with a thesis titled Meaning and form of ‘The tree of science‘ of Pio Baroja. She also has a degree in Spanish Philology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a doctorate in Translation and Interpretation from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she has been a full professor at the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation from 1999 until her retirement in 2013.
Ernesto Rubio (1975) is a translation project manager, Polish/English-Spanish/Catalan literary and audiovisual translator and graduate in English Philology from the University of Valencia. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Translation, Interpretation and Intercultural Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Both translators regularly collaborate and are responsible for the Spanish versions of works such as Al is del Arbatde Hanna Krall; The evil of the shamanby Jacek Hugo-Bader; and Bucharest. Dust and Bloodde Małgorzata Rejmer, entre otras.
The juries of both awards, chaired by Jesús González, deputy director general for the Promotion of Books, Reading and Spanish Literature; They have had Antonio Muñoz Molina as members, for the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE); Eba Gaminde, for the Royal Academy of the Basque Language/Euskaltzaindia; Àngels Gregori Parra, for the Academia Valenciana de la Lengua/Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua; Joaquín Fernández-Valdés; by the Collegiate Association of Writers of Spain (ACE); Helena Cortés Gabaudan, for the Conference of Rectors of the Universities of Spain (CRUE); Margie Igoa, for the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE); María Teresa Santamaría Hernández, for the Toledo School of Translators; and Isabel Soto López, for the Ministry of Culture.