Michael Henry Heim: a gift for translation

A translation fund set up in 2003 by the son of a Hungarian immigrant to the USA has helped many books make the transition from their original language into English. Recipients of grants from this fund are being honoured at the annual PEN America literary awards ceremony. I am lucky enough to have received one such grant, and I decided to blow a portion of it on travelling to New York for the awards ceremony today. Organisations such as PEN are more important than ever, and the story behind the translation fund has a particular resonance in the current political climate.

The PEN Translation Fund was established in 2003 through an anonymous donation. Only after his death in 2012 was it revealed that the gift of $734,000 came from Michael Henry Heim. Heim was a distinguished translator– of Milan Kundera and Anton Chekhov, among others– and a professor of Slavic languages at UCLA. He was deeply concerned by the lack of literature in translation in the USA and determined to do something about it. But he wanted to remain anonymous, so he approached the PEN American Center about setting up a translation fund.

You might wonder – as I did – how a translator, even a well-known one with a secure job at a university, could amass $734,000 and be in a position to give it away, no strings attached. The story is as intriguing as it is humbling.

The money grew from an army death benefit paid to Michael Henry Heim’s mother when her husband died in 1945. He was a Hungarian composer and baker who had emigrated to America in 1939 and joined the US army during the second World War. The death benefit was carefully invested; later, Michael Henry (Mike) and his wife, Priscilla, added slowly to the fund. Their dream was to support future generations of translators and stimulate the publication of more literature from around the world. They lived very frugally in order to build up the fund. As Priscilla Heim explained when she gave permission to reveal the source of the money: “We never went to restaurants or movies, and Mike wore his clothes for years on end, including his good blazer after moth holes appeared. Those things add up, and added to the fund.”

It is anything but frugal to fly to New York for an awards ceremony and a party. However, 2017 feels like an especially important year to celebrate the work that PEN does worldwide, and to toast a Hungarian immigrant whose legacy has helped many translators pursue their art and many authors reach new audiences.

Applications for PEN/Heim Translation Fund grants are not restricted to translators based in the US or from the US. The translator does not need to have a contract with an English-language publisher in order to submit an extract from a translation project. The work in progress for which I received a 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant is Der Zwerg reinigt den Kittel (working title "Operation Hinterland: Tales from the Silver Scrapheap") by Austrian writer Anita Augustin, published by Ullstein Verlag (Berlin). The novel is still in search of an English-language publisher. A sample translation is available on the PEN website: https://pen.org/operation-hinterland-tales-from-the-silver-scrapheap/

Anyone who would like to read more can contact me via the Irish Times or pen.org.
2017 PEN Literary Awards Ceremony
2016 PEN/Heim Translation Award recipients
Rachel McNicholl profile
2017 PEN/Heim Translation Award recipients
Background on Michael Henry Heim