The EmLit Project (European Minority Literatures in Translation) is a book (online as a series of pdf and mp3 files) of original European writings in Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Sinhala, Picard, Walloon, Lingala, Sorbian, Greek, Turkish, Sicilian, Albanian, Galician, Arabic, “Amazic” (ie, Berber in general rather than the specific language properly called Tamazight; the text included is apparently in Tarifit), Gun, and Catalan; the first section of the book contains the originals, which are followed by translations into English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish (accompanied by boxed descriptions of the history and European context of each language). There are also audiofiles of ten writers reading their work. I know pdf files are a nuisance, but this kind of material is surely worth it. (Via Open Brackets.)
From the introduction to the Picard section:
The days are long gone when, in Lille, an oath had to be taken in Picard. Who now remembers the fables of Gauthier le Leu? Who could complete The Journey to Sicily which death prevented Adam de la Halle from finishing?… Like all the place-names which have disappeared off the map, Picardy dreams of a resurrection. But the picard language is no longer used in public life… My four grandparents were already bilingual, educated in French. My father knew by heart some of the poetry of Henri Tournelle and some saucy fables by Bosquètia—to our great delight at family reunions…
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