2014 Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize

Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize

The annual Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize, first held in 2010, "aims to recognise the achievements of young translators at the start of their careers." Harvill Secker, a publishing company, is partnering with the British Centre for Literary Translation and the Goethe-Institut London.

Each year, the prize focuses on a different language, and the chosen language for this year is German. Competitors for the prize will translate the short story "Der Hausfreund" by German author Julia Franck.

Winners will receive £1000 and a selection of Harvill Secker titles, and is also invited to participate in the BCLT mentorship scheme and in the Crossing Border festival in November.

The deadline for this contest is Friday, August 1, 2014.

The entry form and rules can be found here, and a copy of the short story can be found here.

The contest to open to entrants from any country, but an entrant must be between the ages of 18 to 34 as of the contest deadline.

For residents of the UK or Ireland:
The Stephen Spender Prize focuses on translation of poetry; to enter, submit a translation of a poem from any language, classical or modern, into English. The due date is May 23, 2014. There is no age limit for this competition, but entrants 18 years of age or older must pay a £5 submission fee.

German-American Friendship Garden Rededication Ceremony

Last Friday, April 11, 2014, was the Rededication Ceremony of the German-American Friendship Garden on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. German Ambassador Peter Ammon and Superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks Robert Vogel led the ceremony.

Keep reading for information about the garden and my photos from the Rededication Ceremony!

About the Garden

The German-American Friendship Garden was originally built in 1983. It was dedicated by President Ronald Reagan and Chancellor Helmut Kohl to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, the first organized immigration of Germans.

The Garden was originally designed by the late German landscape architect Wolfgang Oehme, who emphasized common elements in United States and German cultures by using only plants indigenous to both countries.

A joint initiative was launched last year between the German Embassy, the National Park Service, and the Association of German-American Societies of Greater Washington, D.C. for a much-needed restoration of the garden. Oehme van Sweden, a landscape architecture company of which Mr. Oehme was a founding partner, assisted in an advisory capacity. Over the past year, perennials and other native plants were planted, a new irrigation system was installed and the central square panel of the garden was restored.

The German-American Friendship Garden is on the grounds of the Washington Memorial and across the street from the Ellipse (in front of the White House). Check it out on the map below:

More information about the German-American Friendship Garden and its restoration can be found at the following webpages:

• Photos of the German-American Friendship Garden Rededication Ceremony (German Embassy) 
• Vine Video of the Planting of the Last Shrub at the Rededication Ceremony (German Embassy)
• The German-American Friendship Garden: A Comprehensive History (German Embassy)
• German-American Friendship Garden (Wikipedia)
• German-American Friendship Garden (AGAS)
• Ambassador Ammon Visits German-American Friendship Garden After Restoration (German Embassy)
• June 15, 2013 "Clean & Weed" @ German American Friendship Garden (German Embassy)
• Picture Gallery for the June 15, 2013 "Clean & Weed" @ German American Friendship Garden (German Embassy)
• Restoration of the German-American Friendship Garden (Oehme van Sweden) 
• Statement of Restoration (German Embassy)

Photos of the Rededication Ceremony

Here are some of the photos that I took while attending the Rededication Ceremony:

An orchestra provides music. The orchestra played the national
anthems of Germany and the United States before the ceremony.
The Ellipse and the White House are in the background.

Superintendent Vogel makes a statement at the Rededication Ceremony.

Ambassador Ammon makes a statement at the Rededication Ceremony.

Ambassador Ammon recognizes key volunteers.
The volunteers received a plaque and a medal from the German Embassy.

Ambassador Ammon and Superintendent Vogel plant the
last flower to finish the restoration of the garden.

Ambassador Ammon and Superintendent Vogel finish the planting.
Afterward, the two men shook hands.

The restoration is complete!

A banner at the ceremony displays a quote from President Ronald Reagan.

Ambassador Ammon and Superintendent Vogel cut the friendship cake.

A staff member from the German Embassy cuts the friendship cake
and passes out slices to attendees.

Ambassador Ammon chats with another National Park Service member.
The Washington Monument is in the background.

A view of the German-American Friendship Garden.
As the plants mature, the garden will look more full.

Another view of the garden and the water fountains.

A view of the garden from the opposite direction.
The ceremony location is to the left.

A view of the Rededication Ceremony.

Will German become Gender-Neutral?

According to an article published Monday in The Guardian, the German federal justice ministry is encouraging state agencies should try to use gender-neutral language in their documents. Here are some quotes from the article:

Changing attitudes to gender are increasingly transforming the German language, and some theorists argue that scrapping the gendered articles altogether may be the most logical outcome.

Now, with the federal justice ministry emphasising that all state bodies should stick to "gender-neutral" formulations in their paperwork, things are changing again. Increasingly, job ads use the feminine form as the root of a noun, so that even a male professor may be referred to as der Professorin. Lecturers are advised to address their students not as Studenten but Studierende ("those that study"), thus sidestepping the gender question altogether.

Many linguists question whether language can be changed through human will. "It's hard to transform grammar through legislation, and even if so, such changes often happen over centuries," said Anatol Stefanowitsch, a linguist at Berlin's Free University.

Read the full article here:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/germans-get-tongues-around-gender-neutral-language. For more information on gender-neutral language issues in German, see this Wikipedia article: Geschlechtergerechte Sprache.

One response can be found here: "Can language ever be gender neutral?", Eurotalk.com.

What do you think? How will the German language change? Post your opinions below! (Also, if someone can find the original statement from the German federal justice ministry, please post a link to it below!)