Upcoming Translation Events October 2023

From L-R: "kochanie, today i bought bread" by Uljana Wolf, translated by Greg Nissan; "The Red Book of Farewells" by Pirkko Saisio, translated by Mia Spangenberg; "The Complete Works of Álvaro de Campos by Fernando Pessoa," translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Patricio Ferrari

Monday, October 2:

MA, a choral reading, at Sunview Luncheonette | More information coming soon. In-person. Hosted by Ugly Duckling Presse. More info here. Starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Tuesday, October 3:

Carmen Boullosa and Samantha Schnee at Macaulay Faculty Scholars: The Book of Eve | Carmen Boullosa is Macaulay’s Distinguished Lecturer and one of Mexico’s leading novelists, poets, and playwrights. She’ll discuss her newly translated book, The Book of Eve with translator Samantha Schnee. Moderator for the evening will be Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Roblin Meeks. Click below to register for this in-person event. In-person. Co-hosted by Deep Vellum Publishing and Macaulay Honors College. More info here. Starts at 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Wednesday, October 4:

Dunes Literary Series: Translator Max Lawton on Zoom | Translator Max Lawton will be reading as part of the Dunes Literary Series, hosted by the English Department at Indiana University Northwest. Max Lawton has translated eight books by Russian novelist and short fiction writer Vladimir Sorokin, including Telluria, Red Pyramid and Other Stories, and the forthcoming Blue Lard. Virtual. Hosted by Indiana University Northwest. More info here. Register for the Zoom link here. Starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET)

From DMZ Colony to Phantom Pain Wings: An Evening with Kim Hyesoon and Don Mee Choi | This evening is devoted to the incendiary magic that arises when one brilliant poet translates another. For over a decade, poet Don Mee Choi (National Book Award winner, Guggenheim and MacArthur fellow) has been translating the fiercely iconoclastic and radically feminist poetry of Kim Hyesoon (Daesan Literary Award, Griffin Poetry Prize), one of the foremost poets of South Korea. The two will read from their works and speak about their writing and collaboration with Literary Translation at Columbia (LTAC) Director Susan Bernofsky. In-person. Co-sponsored by Center for Korean Research at Columbia University and The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities. Promotional support provided by The Korea Society. More info here. 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Thursday, October 5:

Crooked Plow: Translating Social Justice in Brazil | Join us for a discussion of Brazilian author Itamar Vieira Junior’s best-selling novel Crooked Plow, now available in English. Vieira Junior will be in conversation with feminist anthropologist and political activist Keisha-Khan Perry and poet and Crooked Plow translator Johnny Lorenz to explore literary writing, social justice work, and the long shadow that slavery casts. They will collectively consider how profoundly local textures of daily life and historical memory can resonate beyond the places that inspired them. In-person. Hosted by the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University in the City of New York. More info here. Starts at 6:15 p.m. (ET)

kochanie today i bought bread: A Conversation with Uljana Wolf, Greg Nissan, Valzhyna Mort and Uli Baer | Deutsches Haus at NYU and World Poetry Books presents a reading and conversation about kochanie today i bought bread with the author and poet Uljana Wolf, the translator Greg Nissan, and the poet Valzhyna Mort. The conversation will be moderated by Ulrich Baer. In kochanie, today I bought bread, Uljana Wolf crosses borders from East Germany into Poland, from fairy tales to the tallying of land torn by fateful past, from women’s voices “hibernating in documents,” to Lavinia’s spilling forth of red language. Hailed by critics for its “brief strokes that open up a wide historical space in which political doom is still present,” this book is a testament that the cartography we inherit is equal parts limit and dare. Wolf’s debut collection won the Peter Huchel Prize in 2006—she was its youngest recipient. Nearly 20 years later, this bilingual edition—featuring a new introduction by Valzhyna Mort and Greg Nissan’s superbly-tuned translation—invites English-language readers into the “guest room” of poetry. In-person. Hosted by Deutsches Haus at NYU. More info here. 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Friday, October 6:

Korean and English Bilingual Poetry Reading | Three poets. Three translators. One conversation. We invite you to join us for an evening of bilingual poetry readings. Three poets—Moon Bo Young, Kim Liyoun, Kim Sono—along with three translators—Soje, Eunice Lee, Jenny Jisun Kim—explore the power of language to connect us with one another. Not as well known to many audiences, Korean poetry contains a rich and vibrant tradition that is yet to be understood. It is through the exchanging of dialogue, breath, and verse that the moment of Korean poetry is revealed. Hybrid (in-person and virtual). This program is a collaboration between the Korea Society’s Arts and Culture Department and Education Department and is moderated by Education Program Officer, Amanda Grant. More info here. Starts at 6:30 p.m. (ET) 

Kim Hyesoon with Don Mee Choi, Elizabeth Willis, and Nancy Bowen at The Poetry Project | A witch makes her words of air, then fire, then the planets. Of cardboard, then ink, then a compass,” writes Elizabeth Willis. Such elemental, alchemical words fly, shimmer, and burn in new books by Kim Hyesoon (trans. by Don Mee Choi) and Willis (with images by Nancy Bowen) in the language(s) of memory and forgetting, of wind and birds. Join Kim Hyesoon and translator Don Mee Choi, Elizabeth Willis, and Nancy Bowen for a reading at The Poetry Project. Hybrid (in-person and livestreamed virtually). Hosted by New Directions Publishing. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Colloquy #8, Translators in Conversation | Please join us for the tenth installment of Colloquy: Translators in Conversation, featuring translations from New Directions, with readings and discussion from Patricio Ferrari, Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda, and Minna Zallman Proctor, and hosted and moderated by Colloquy curator C. Francis Fisher '23. Colloquy is an event series presented by World Poetry Books in collaboration with Montez Press Radio and partnering bookstores which invites translators to engage with live audiences in an exploration of the art of translation. In-person. Presented by World Poetry Books in collaboration with Montez Press Radio, and hosted at Unnameable Books. More info here. 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. (ET) 

 

Saturday, October 7:

UDP Fall Studio Party: Börjel, Hayashida, Melgard, Wippermann | Celebrate three new books with us at the UDP studio: MA by Ida Börjel, translated by Jennifer Hayashida; Read Me: Selected Works by Holly Melgard; and Joan of Arkansas by Milo (Emma) Wippermann. Refreshments provided, but a bottle is always welcome! Capacity is limited. In-person. Hosted by Ugly Duckling Presse. More info here. 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Tuesday, October 10:

Virtual Reading & Conversation: Ochre & Rust | Please join us in celebrating the publication of Ochre & Rust: New Selected Poems of Sergey Gandlevsky (translated by Philip Metres), winner of the inaugural Stephen Mitchell Prize for Excellence in Translation. Virtual. Hosted by Green Linden Press. Register for the Zoom link here. Starts at 10:00 a.m. (ET)

Ilya Kaminsky and Lesyk Panasiuk on Writing and Translating Poetry In Times of War | Join us for this lunchtime event to hear American poet and scholar Ilya Kaminsky and Ukrainian poet and translator Lesyk Panasiuk talk about their experiences writing and translating poetry during the Russian war against Ukraine. Kaminsky and Panasiuk will share their thoughts on the impact of war on language and engage in a conversation about their individual approaches to translating each other's poems.  The conversation will be moderated by Hanna Leliv, current PTIC Translator in Residence. Virtual. Hosted by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. More info here. 12:00 - 1:20 p.m. (ET)

Nordic Book Club Online: The Red Book of Farewells with Mia Spangenberg | Translator Mia Spangenberg joins Scandinavia House’s Nordic Book Club Online for a special talk on The Red Book of Farewells by Finnish author Pirkko Saisio. Virtual. More info here. Register for the Zoom link here. 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

When Things Happen - Book Presentation | The Italian Cultural Institute in New York is pleased to host the presentation of the book When Things Happen by Italian writer Angelo Cannavacciuolo (Rutgers University Press, 2023). The author Angelo Cannavacciuolo will be in conversation with: Gregory Pell, Translator and Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures Hofstra University and Alane Salierno Mason, Vice President and Executive Editor of W.W. Norton & Company and Founder of Words Without Borders. In-person. Hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute. RSVP required. More info here. Starts at 6:00 p.m. (ET)

Jhumpa Lahiri Presents Roman Stories with Todd Portnowitz | We're thrilled to present Jhumpa Lahiri to celebrate the launch of Roman Stories, her first short story collection since her number one New York Times bestseller Unaccustomed Earth. She will be in conversation with co-translator Todd Portnowitz, with book sales and a signing to follow. Please note that the event will be ticketed.  Co-presented by the Rizzoli Bookstore and the Italian Cultural Institute. More info here. Starts at 6:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Thursday, October 12:

Afterlives: An AGNI Portfolio of Asian Adoptee Diaspora Writing | Join the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith for a virtual event to discuss and celebrate Afterlives: An AGNI Portfolio of Asian Adoptee Diaspora Writing. Co-editors Jennifer Kwon Dobbs and Lee Herrick will be in conversation with contributors Eva Lin Fahey, Susan Ito, Greg Santos, and Jenny Heijun Wills. Virtual. Hosted by Brookline Booksmith. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Friday, October 13:

Libuše Moníková’s Transfigured Night: Illuminating Prague After the Wende | Please join the East Central European Center for a reading and conversation about translation between languages, cultures, and spaces with Anne Posten and Meghan Forbes. Moderated by Christopher Harwood. Virtual. Hosted by the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. More info here. 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Monday, October 16:

Oksana Vasyakina's Wound. Translation reading and Q&A with Elina Alter  | Writer and educator Oksana Vasyakina (joining via Zoom) and translator Elina Alter '16 will read from and discuss Wound, Vasyakina’s acclaimed first novel. A sensation when it was published in Russia in 2021,WOUND follows a young woman growing up in Siberia and Moscow, gradually unfolding into a consideration of grief, family, the lives of women, lesbian sexuality, and the uses of art. In her introduction to the original edition, Polina Barskova calls the book “Acutely necessary. Wound is a bold, human, powerful meditation on how a language of love and death takes shape.” In-person. Hosted by Russian and East European Cultures at Hunter College and co-hosted by the Tamizdat Project. More info here. RSVP required. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Wednesday, October 18:

The International Library: Emily Wilson on The Iliad | Make a lunch date to join us in celebrating a brand new translation of Homer’s The Iliad from one of the most celebrated literary translators of our time, Emily Wilson. This much-anticipated follow-up to her translation of The Odyssey sets a new standard for the ancient text, with captivating, vivid language and rich accompanying materials. Wilson will discuss adapting classical work for modern readers and engaging with one of antiquity’s most complex and exciting works from a fresh perspective. Hybrid (in-person and virtual). Hosted by The Center for Fiction. More info here. Starts at 1:30 p.m. (ET)

Patricio Ferrari and Maya C. Popa on The Complete Works of Álvaro de Campos | Álvaro de Campos is one of the most influential heteronyms created by Portugal’s great modernist writer Fernando Pessoa. According to Pessoa, Campos was born in Tavira (Algarve) in 1890 and studied mechanical engineering in Glasgow, although he never managed to complete his degree. In his own day, Campos was celebrated—and slandered—for his vociferous poetry imbued with a Whitman-inspired free verse, his praise of the rise of technology, and his polemical views that appeared in manifestos, interviews, and essays. Here in Margaret Jull Costa and Patricio Ferrari’s translations are the complete poems of Campos. This edition is based on the Portuguese Tinta-da-china edition and includes an illuminating introduction about Campos by the Portuguese editors Jerónimo Pizarro and Antonio Cardiello, facsimiles of original manuscripts, and a generous selection of Campos’s prose texts. More information coming soon. Hosted by New Directions Publishing.

 

Thursday, October 19:

Reading by the Authors of The Soul Conveys Itself in Shadow / El alma se mueve en la sombra | Join Book Culture, Stenen Press, and Sundial House on Thursday, October 19th at 7pm for a reading and conversation in celebration of the recent release of The Soul Conveys Itself in Shadow / El alma se mueve en la sombra. With a reading by the poet Sarah Riggs, and conversation with editors Kythe Heller and Carolina Gómez-Montoya. The anthology features contributions by Cecilia Vicuña, Rosa Alcalá, Etel Adnan, Sarah Riggs, Ananda Devi, Kazim Ali, Polina Barskova, Valzhyna Mort, Yu Xiuhua, Amanda Lee Koe '17, and Kit Warren. Edited by Kythe Maryam Heller and Carolina Gómez-Montoya. In-person. More info here. Register here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Yaki Setton, Sergio Waisman, Holly Melgard, Nay Saysourinho, and Jahan Khajavi at the KGB Bar | Join us on October 19th at KGB Bar in the East Village for a reading to celebrate Mirta Rosenberg’s Interior Landscape, translated by Yaki Setton & Sergio Waisman, The Capture of Krao Farini, by Nay Saysourinho, Feast of the Ass by Jahan Khajavi, and Read Me: Selected Works by Holly Melgard. In-person. Hosted by Ugly Duckling Presse. More info here. Starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Monday, October 23:

A Celebration of Multiverse: An Evening with Tzveta Sofronieva and Jeffrey Yang | Deutsches Haus at NYU, Goethe-Institut New York, White Pine Press, and the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa present a celebration of "Multiverse: New and Selected Poems" by Tzveta Sofronieva (White Pine Press, 2020). In their conversation, authors Tzveta Sofronieva and Jeffrey Yang will read from their work and discuss multilingual writing. In-person. RSVP required. More info here. 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. (ET)

Translations of Havel's The Memo/randum | A staged reading of four translations of Scene 8 in Vaclav Havel’s play, The Memo (also translated as The Memorandum). An examination of the nuances of translation. Directed by Edward Einhorn, Artistic Director, Rehearsal for Truth Theatre Festival. Performed by actors from Untitled Theater Company No. 61: Stephanie Litchfield, Eric Oleson, Thomas Shuman. The reading is followed by a discussion with the translators: Jennifer Helinek, second-year student in the Master of Arts in Regional Studies - Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe (MARS-REERS) program at the Harriman Institute; Josef Nosal, a rising senior student of Radio, Television Dramaturgy and Screenwriting at JAMU and the winner of the Václav Havel Library Foundation’s mini-drama contest; Lucas Schlesinger, third-year comparative literature major in Columbia College; and Paul Wilson, one of Havel’s most prolific translators, having translated multiple plays, books, and essays. Moderated by Chris Harwood, Columbia University. In-person. Organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation, along with The East Central European Center and the Harriman Institute (both of Columbia University), and the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), New York Chapter. Supported by the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association. More info here. 7:00 - 8:45 p.m. (ET)

 

Tuesday, October 24:

Meet the World: This is my ******* country! Bad language and good living in the UK | How has language affected how Nepali Gurkha-origin individuals and communities integrate, dissociate or simply live life in the UK? How does this vary across generations and genders? How is this intertwined with cultural or artistic expression? This Meet the World panel explores the experiences of Nepali Gurkhas living in the UK to understand how the use of language – or the inability to use a specific language – defines their identities in the fraught multicultural realities of Britain today. The panellists for this Meet the World session are Premila van Ommen, a researcher on Gurkha youth culture in the UK; Mukahang Limbu, whose debut poetry collection ‘Mother of Flip-Flops’ was published by Out-spoken Press in 2022; and Sanjay Sharma, a researcher on the transnational histories of Gurkha women. Premila will talk about the role of rap in the youth culture of British Nepali youth; Mukahang will talk about how he and other Nepali youth are using poetry and prose to recall Nepal while living in the UK; and Sanjay will share his experiences of using oral history to record the often hidden lives of Gurkha wives. The session will be moderated by Rabi Thapa, NCW virtual translator in residence for summer 2023, a UK-born, Nepal-bred writer/editor/translator who lives in Wales, hoping one day to be one of the Cymru Cymraeg. Virtual. Hosted by the National Centre for Writing. More info here. 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Thursday, October 26:

City Lights Presents Found in Translation: Adventures in Language | As part of its 70th Anniversary programming City Lights celebrates literature in translation with Gabriela Alemán, Dick Cluster, Gillian Conoloy, Elaine Katzenberger, Emilie Moorehouse, and Mark Schafer. Moderated by Olivia Sears. City Lights was conceived as an international project. From the very beginning, from Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s own translations of Jacques Prévert , and on to some of the exciting authors City Lights publishes today, the world in translation has been at the core of the City Lights mission. Spend an evening with the editors and translators who have helped shape the translation program at City Lights. Virtual. Hosted by the Center for the Art of Translation. More info here and here. 9:00 - 10:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Friday, October 27:

From “Plots and Twists” to a Co-Translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses | In the Fall of 2020, at Princeton University, classicist Yelena Baraz and writer Jhumpa Lahiri team-taught a seminar entitled “Ancient Plots, Modern Twists” which examined how ancient Greek and Roman plots were appropriated, reused, and reimagined by modern and contemporary writers. The course was divided into four thematic clusters: Abandonment, Monster, Plague, and Metamorphosis. Selections from Ovid’s Metamorphoses served as a point of reference for each of these clusters. The collaboration between Baraz and Lahiri led to their embarking, in 2021, on a co-translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in English for the Modern Library. In this presentation, Jhumpa Lahiri will discuss the genesis, creative process, and challenges of “modernizing” Ovid’s Latin text for a new generation of English readers, revisiting themes of abandonment, monstrosity, plague and metamorphosis to frame the presentation. In-person with limited seating; registration required. Hosted by the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean (CAM) and the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America at Columbia University. More info here. 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Saturday, October 28:

A Black Spring Books Halloween Party | Join us for our annual halloween party and reading on October 28th, with readings by Bonnie Chau '15, Selin Gökcesu '15, Mary Reilly, and Noa Sanders, and performances by Marina Gasparyan and Namoi Seimens. In-person. Hosted by Black Spring Books. More info here. Starts at 8:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Monday, October 30:

Sunrise and Trinity, Trinity, Trinity Book Tour with Erika Kobayashi and Brian Bergstrom | Rising writer and artist Erika Kobayashi, rapidly gaining popularity in Japan, will visit NYU on Oct. 30th to discuss and celebrate the U.S. publication of her novel, Sunrise. The event will feature a conversation between author Erika Kobayashi and translator Brian Bergstrom. The talk will explore Kobayashi’s work from a variety of perspectives, including her thoughts on the book, the translation process, and the relationship between art and literature. In addition to the stimulating discussion, Sunrise is available for purchase on-site. This will be a rare opportunity to learn more about one of Japan’s most exciting new voices, so please join us for this special event! In-person. Registration required; form closes on Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. Co-organized by The Japan Foundation with The Yanai Initiative, Astra Publishing House, New York University, and Bard College. More info here. 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (ET)