Nika Gavrovska, a writer and owner of the small publishing house Gavrosh, has also been hit by the funding loss. She focuses largely on children’s literature, an area where Macedonian books have received international recognition.
Several Macedonian children’s books, including Gavrovska’s Bambino, were selected for The White Ravens, an annual catalogue of outstanding new children’s and young-adult books from around the world, compiled by specialists at the International Youth Library in Munich. Bambino was translated into Chinese, but Gavrovska was lucky. Her Chinese publisher covered the translation costs itself rather than receiving support from the Macedonian state. Most authors are not so lucky.
Gavrovska says the achievements of North Macedonia’s authors have not been matched by the government at home. “We engage people, prepare catalogues and manage to attract the interest of foreign publishers. But then we immediately encounter a dysfunctional element in the whole chain,” she said.
For established writers, the loss of the programme is frustrating. For younger and less-known authors, it can be career threatening.
Author Rumena Buzharovska, whose two books, My Husband and Tony, have been translated into numerous languages, says translation funding is particularly important for authors who have not yet built an international reputation because “they represent the greatest risk for foreign publishers and potentially an unprofitable investment” if the cost of translation is not covered.
“If foreign publishers have no incentive from our state to cover the cost of translating from Macedonian, they may not translate our works at all, and we could remain completely absent and unrecognised on the global literary scene.”
