Upcoming Translation Events June 2021
Thursday, June 3:
Virtual Book Talk: Clairvoyant of the Small. The Center for the Art of Translation presents translator Susan Bernofsky in this celebration of her biography of the modernist writer Robert Walser, Clairvoyant of the Small. Bernofsky will be joined in conversation by Kate Zambreno. Hosted by Point Reyes Books. More information here. 9:30 pm (ET)
New Directions 85th Anniversary at City Lights: A night of poetry and remembrances to celebrate the 85th birthday of publisher New Directions. Special guests will include: Will Alexander, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge '73, Susan Howe, Sylvia Legris, Nathaniel Mackey, Michael Palmer, Nathaniel Tarn, Eliot Weinberger, and master of ceremonies, Forrest Gander. More information here. 9:00 pm (ET)
Wednesday, June 9:
Trauma's Field of Distortion: Indian novelist Megha Majumdar, Ethiopian-American writer and photographer Maaza Mengiste, and German-Lebanese novelist and slam poet Pierre Jarawan join translator Tess Lewis to discuss their latest novels and the distorting effects trauma and shame exert on individual and collective identities. The event is part of the introductory program of the Kultursymposium Weimar 2021 and hosted by the Goethe Institut. More information here. 11:00 am (ET)
Friday, June 11:
Stranger's Guide to Scandinavia: To celebrate the release of the Stranger’s Guide Scandinavian edition, distinguished guests will talk about the changing face of the region from an environmental, societal, and cultural perspective. Panelists include Icelandic author & documentary filmmaker Andri Snær Magnason, translator Lytton Smith, Sámi reindeer herder and photographer Carl Johan Usti, and Stranger’s Guide editor Kira Brunner Don; Ethelene Whitmire will moderate the conversation. Hosted by Scandinavia House. More information here. 1:00 pm (ET)
Sunday, June 13
Virtual Book talk with Rajiv Mohabir: This virtual discussion will focus on Rajiv Mohabir's translation of Lalbihari Sharma's I Even Regret Night: Holi Songs of Demerara. Hosted by Four Way Books. RSVP via email to receive a Zoom link. 2:00 - 3:30 pm (ET)
Thursday, June 17:
Literary Translation Clinic: What Are the Strategies of 'Deviant' or Queer Translation? Poet and translator Rajiv Mohabir will pose questions that think on translation as a trialogue. What happens when the translation resists stability and when the speech community uses at least three different languages that have their own approaches to meaning making, vocabularies of humor, and social power? Can a queer method of translation practice change or inflect the violences of moving a language from periphery to core? How can a practice of translation account for slippage of meaning, resistance to fixity, and social/power distance? Translator of Polish literature, Sean Gasper Bye, will join Mohabir in conversation. Hosted by the Center for Fiction. More information here. 7:00 pm (ET)
Saturday, June 22:
Virtual Book Talk: Distant Fathers. Translator Ann Goldstein and Italian novelist and editor Marta Barone present Distant Fathers by Marina Jarre, translated into English for the first time by Goldstein. Hosted by Rizzoli Bookstore. More information here. 6:00 pm (ET)
Thursday, June 24:
What You Can See From Here: A Conversation among Mariana Leky, Tess Lewis, and Rachel Cohen about Mariana Leky’s international bestseller What You Can See from Here (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2021, in an English-language translation by Tess Lewis). Presented by Deutsches Haus at NYU and the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany New York. More information here. 1:00 - 2:30 pm (ET)
Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize + Gutekunst Prize of the Friends of Goethe New York: Save the date for this year's annual translation award ceremony in honor of the Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize and the Gutekunst Prize of the Friends of Goethe New York. Hosted by the Goethe Institut. More details will be added to this page as they become available.
Saturday, June 26:
Page Turner - The 2021 AAWW Publishing Conference: The 2021 Asian American Writers' Workshop Publishing Conference will convene experts, authors, and translators across industries and genres to share candid insights, advice, and experiences. From the latest generation of literary editors to some of the newest voices in the speculative genre, from academics to Hollywood screenwriters, this conference explores the craft of writing and publishing with a number of industry insiders. More information here. 9:45 am - 6:00 pm (ET)
Power, Play, and Politics in Translation: This panel brings together prominent writers, translators, and editors to discuss working at the intersections between experimentation, race, and imperialism. Digging into colonial asymmetries in language, critiques of mastery and legibility, and the stakes of improvisation, our translators will speak to their evolving relationships between language, play, and politics. Featuring Jack Jung, Madhu Kaza, and Jeremy Tiang, and moderated by Saba Ahmed and Esther Kim. Part of the 2021 AAWW Publishing Conference. More information here. 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (ET)