FEST OF TRANSLATORS
Fest of Translators
The Writers’ Union of Armenia will organize an International Festival of Translators October 10-15, 2019. Ten writers and translators have been invited from different countries. It will take place in Yerevan, Oshakan, Tsakhkadzor and Gyumri. The participants will present their works and translations.
The Translators Fest is one of the Armenian national church’s ancient feasts and is celebrated in October. It honours the invention of the Armenian alphabet in the 5th century, the first Armenian translation of Bible, the translation movement, and the beginning of the Armenian schooling. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the memory of six translators: Mesrop Mashtots and his disciples, Yeghishe, Movses Khorenatsi, David the Invincible, as well as Grigor Narekatsi and Nerses Shnorhali (Saint Nerses the Graceful) under the name “The Feast of the Holy Translators “.
The Writers’ Union of Armenia internationalized the festival from 1970 to 1980. Translators and poets were invited from different countries. The festival has been restored since 2005. During the festival, the “Kantegh” (“Luminaire”) prize, co-sponsored by the Armenian Writers’ Union of Armenia and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, is given to the best Armenian and foreign interpreters who have translated world literature into Armenian and/or Armenian literature into other languages. The award ceremony takes place at the St. Mesrop Mashtots Church in Oshakan, where the creator of the Armenian alphabet, Mesrop Mashtots, is buried. The tradition of international celebration of previous centuries will be continued this year for the first time in the 21st century.
