Translation (not) in the US

       At The New Yorker Vauhini Vara wonders Do You Have to Win a Nobel Prize to Be Translated ?
       While the situation isn't quite so dire, big prize-wins tend to help a lot -- but perhaps only for so long: Modiano (and Le Clézio) publisher David Godine is quoted:

My takeaway thought to this is that it's really sad that the only way that these people get any attention is when they win the Nobel Prize -- and then, five years from now, no one's going to remember it, no one's going to remember that Modiano won it

       As seems inevitable in any piece on how much gets translated, Vara muddies some of the numbers in writing:

Last year, traditional publishers put out about sixty thousand print titles in fiction, poetry, or drama; only five hundred and twenty-four of those were translated books of fiction or poetry, according to the Three Percent Web site

       The 60K number includes new editions, paperback editions of previously published translations, new translations of previously translated works, etc., while the Three Percent database is limited to works of fiction and poetry appearing in English for the first time (i.e. the two new translations of Anna Karenina (see below) count among the 60K, but not among the translations tracked at Three Percent ...).
       Still, quite a few interesting points and observations here -- including regarding the American phenomenon of small and independent publishers having taken the translation-lead, while the biggest publishers seem willing to only take the smallest risks (Knopf's Bogaards' comments may be half-joking, but sure sound half-serious, too ...)