Recommended Reading Is Open for Submissions of Translated Fiction

As if broadening our reading horizons beyond our native tongue wasn’t impressive enough, great translators do so much more. They go further than the meaning of a text, give us access to the melody and feeling of literature from different worlds. And yet, for their almost magical service to global readers, they are often under-acknowledged.

We’d like to have a round, of sorts, for all the translators out there. So, for two weeks, from November 15th through 29th, we’re opening a special period of submissions for our weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, exclusively for translated work. If you’re in the business of language conversion, check out the guidelines and notes below.

• Translators can submit either a sample, or a fully translated story that has not been published in English before. For full stories, per our usual length parameters we will consider pieces between 1,500 and 10,000 words.
• In cover letters, submitters should detail who is the rights holder — themselves or the original author — as we will need to clear these for publication.
• Upon a story’s acceptance, we will pay $100 to the translator and $100 to the original author or rights holder.
• Note that we are looking for stories translated to English.

This period is just a special window for underrepresented work — we happily accept translated stories during any submissions opening, and if you’re a member, year-round! Check out our membership benefits here to find out more!