Upcoming Translation Events September 2023

From L-R: "The Devil of the Provinces" by Juan Cárdenas, translated by Lizzie Davis; "Lojman" by Ebru Ojen, translated by Aron Aji and Selin Gökcesu; "The Stronghold" by Dino Buzzati, translated by Lawrence Venuti

Thursday, September 14:

The International Library and BCLF Present Elektrik: Francophone Literature in Glittering Translations | What does it mean to be Caribbean in the 21st century? Is it imprinted in the landscape, the language, or is it perhaps, in the words of Mireille Jean-Gilles (tr. Eric Fishman), “a place that lives in me, and that I unfurl, like a nomad his tent, in each place where I live”? In Elektrik: Caribbean Writing, eight female writers from Haiti, Martinique, and Guadeloupe explore the beauty, pain, and complexity wrapped up in their identity. Writers Marie-Célie Agnant and Gaël Octavia join poet and translator Danielle Legros Georges to read from the collection and discuss language as defiance with Myriam J. A. Chancy. Hybrid (virtual and in-person). Hosted by the Center for the Art of Translation and co-presented by the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival. More info here. Starts at 1:30 p.m. (ET)

Juan Cárdenas, with translator Lizzie Davis, in Conversation with Mark Haber: The Devil of the Provinces | Brazos Bookstore will host Juan Cárdenas and translator Lizzie Davis virtually; they will be in conversation with Mark Haber. Virtual. Hosted by Brazos Bookstore. More info here. Starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Friday, September 15:

Czapski in the U.S.: On the Translation and Reception of his Oeuvre | This panel, as part of “Between Ellipses: Rediscovering the Life and Art of Józef Czapski,” will discuss the discovery and reception of Czapski by American readers. How is Czapski being read in the U.S. and by whom? Joining us in this conversation will be Professor Irena Grudzińska-Gross, Editorial Director of New York Review of Books Classics series Edwin Frank, who has published several volumes of Czapski’s work in English, and translator of Memories of Starobielsk Alissa Valles. How does Czapski’s writing “translate” for new audiences? What are the stakes of expanding his published works in English? How does his published work in English intersect with his artworks, and what new avenues of understanding does it offer for scholars and the American public? In-person. Hosted by the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. More info here. 2:30 - 5:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Sunday, September 17:

A Cheuse Salon: A Busboys and Poets Book Presentation | Join us for the launch of two books, Cuban Poet Wendy Guerra's Delicates, translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson and Esperanza Hope Snyder, and Nancy Naomi Carlson's Piano in the Dark. Esperanza Hope Snyder and Nancy Naomi Carlson will be in conversation with Heather Green. Virtual. Hosted by Busboys and Poets, and sponsored by Cheuse Salon and DC Alt. More info here. 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Monday, September 18:

Emilie Moorhouse presents Joyce Mansour's Emerald Wounds, in conversation with John McMurtrie and Joyelle McSweeney | Joyce Mansour, a Syrian Jewish exile from Egypt, was 25 years old when she published her first book in Paris in 1953. Her fierce, macabre, erotically charged works caught the eye of Andr Breton, who welcomed her into his Surrealist group and became her lifelong friend and ally. Despite her success in surrealist circles, her books received scant attention from the literary establishment, which is hardly surprising since Mansour's favorite topics happened to be two of society's greatest fears: death and unfettered female desire. Now, over half a century later, Mansour's time has come. Emerald Wounds collects her most important work, spanning the entire arc of her career, from the gothic, minimalist fragments of her first published work to the serpentine power of her poems of the 1980s. In fresh new translations, Mansour's voice surges forth uncensored and raw, communicating the frustrations, anger, and sadness of an intelligent, worldly woman who defies the constraints and oppression of a male-dominated society. Mansour is a poet the world needs today. Virtual. Hosted by McNally Jackson. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)
 

Wednesday, September 20:

Ebru Ojen and City Lights presents Lojman, in conversation with Aron Aji and Selin Gökcesu | Lojman tells, on its surface, the domestic tale of a Kurdish family living in a small village on a desolate plateau at the foot of the snow-capped mountains of Turkey's Van province. Virtually every aspect of the family's life is dictated by the government, from their exile to the country's remote, easternmost region to their sequestration in the grim "teacher's lodging"--or lojman--to which they're assigned. When Selma's husband walks out one day, he leaves in his wake a storm of resentment between his young children and a mother reluctant to parent them. Written in startling, raw prose, this novel — the author's first to be translated into English — is reminiscent of Elena Ferrante's masterful Days of Abandonment, though its private dramas are made all the more vivid against an imposing natural landscape that exerts a powerful, life-threatening force. Virtual. Hosted by McNally Jackson. More info here. Starts at 12:00 p.m. (ET)

Juan Cárdenas and translator Lizzie Davis — The Devil of the Provinces | Coffee House Press, Books & Books, and Third Place Books welcome acclaimed Colombian Juan Cárdenas and his translator Lizzie Davis for a virtual discussion of their latest book, The Devil in the Provinces. Virtual. Co-presented by Coffee House Press, Books & Books, and Third Place Books. More info here. Starts at 8:00 p.m. (ET)
 

Thursday, September 21:

The Stronghold / Il deserto dei Tartari - Book Presentation | Published in 1940, Dino Buzzati’s novel Il deserto dei Tartari (The Desert of the Tartars) quickly became a modernist classic which has since been translated into forty languages. It was interpreted primarily as an existentialist fable, an allegory of the absurdity of human life, but it has supported a range of provocative readings that include a critique of the Italian Fascist regime. Stuart Hood’s English version, The Tartar Steppe, has been almost continuously in print since its publication in 1952, when Buzzati’s novel was seen as reflecting the ideological stalemate of the Cold War. Lawrence Venuti’s recent retranslation, The Stronghold, returns to Buzzati’s original title (La Fortezza) in an effort to write a new interpretation for our troubled times. He will be in conversation with Fabio Finotti (Director IIC New York) to discuss the perennial interest generated by Buzzati’s most famous work, as well as the problems it poses to the translator. In-person. Hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. More info here. 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Comma press: Ma is Scared | Comma Press presents Ma is Scared by Anjali Kajal with translator Kavita Bhanot. Virtual. Hosted by Borderless Book Club. More info here. Register for the Zoom link here. 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Friday, September 22:

Another Way: Readings in Translation | Another Way to Say invites you to its September event. In from Finland, Pajtim Statovci will be reading from David Hackston's English translation of his incredible novel Bolla, Jennifer Zoble will be reading from her translation of Sweetlust by Asja Bakic, and Alex Braslavsky from her translation of Zuzanna Ginczanka's collection of poetry On Centaurs & Other Poems. In-person. Hosted by Molasses Books. More info here. Starts at 8:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Tuesday, September 26:

Meet the World: Translating Arab Graphic Novels | In this Meet the World event, four translators of recently published graphic novels from the Arab world to discuss the translation process as well as identity, language and representation. In this wide-ranging discussion, Amy Chiniara (Inside the Giant Fish by Rawand Issa), Deena Mohamed (Your Wish is My Command), Emma Ramadan (My Port of Beirut by Lamia Ziadé) and Nadiyah Abdullatif (Yoghurt and Jam (or how my mother became Lebanese) by Lena Merhej, co-translation with Anam Zafar) explore the similarities and differences in their experiences of routes into translation, collaborating with authors, getting work published, working with illustrations, and handling different source languages and multilingualism. Virtual. Hosted by the National Centre for Writing. More info here. 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (ET)

The Art of Making Picture Books | Join us for a discussion with award-winning author and artist Marika Mijala, translator Mia Spangbenberg, and Etana Editions children’s book publisher Jenni Erkintalo, in celebration of the release of Rosie Runs! They’ll discuss their work across artmaking, translation, and children’s book-making, while sharing visuals from Rosie Runs, which is out August 15 in translation from Elsewhere Editions. In-person. Hosted by Scandinavia House. More info here. 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Wednesday, September 27:

4 Poet-Translators in Conversation | For National Translation Month, we welcome 4 Poet-Translators in Conversation at the Jefferson Market Library: Roberto Mendoza Ayala (Spanish), Robert Kramer (German), Annabel Lee (French), and Tom d'Egidio (Italian). In-person. Hosted by the Jefferson Market Library. More info here. 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. (ET)

 

Friday, September 29:

Alphabetical Disorder: The Last Window-Giraffe at 25 | Come celebrate International Translation Day and the US publication of The Last Window-Giraffe, Hungarian author Péter Zilahy’s groundbreaking fictional memoir of the 1996 protests in Belgrade. Translated by the late Tim Wilkinson and published by Sandorf Passage with a foreword by Marina Abramović, the new edition marks the 25th anniversary of the book’s original release, and the 25th country in which it has appeared. With ongoing wars and autocrats vying for power around the world, this meditation on life under a dictatorship, modeled after a Hungarian primary school textbook, continues to speak to us both as a history lesson and a warning about what the future can hold. Author Péter Zilahy will be joined by two of his book’s translators, married couple Mari Alföldy and Viacheslav Sereda, for conversation and readings from the Hungarian, Dutch, Russian, and English versions of the book. Hybrid (virtual and in-person). Hosted by NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò. More info here. Register for the Zoom link here. 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. (ET)

Launch Party for Your Name, Palestine by Olivia Elias | Join us for an exciting evening celebrating the launch of Olivia Elias' new book, Your Name, Palestine, in an English translation by Sarah Riggs and Jérémy Robert, featuring readings by Mirene Arsanios, co-translators Sarah Riggs and Jérémy Robert, and Olivia Elias herself, as well as musical performances by Jenny Luna and Adam Good. In-person. Hosted by Tamaas/World Poetry Books. More info here. 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Saturday, September 30:

Book Talk with Robert Storr, Kerstin Lind Bonnier, and Peter Galassi Ulf Linde: Essays from a Lifetime in the Arts | Join us September 30 for a discussion on the first English-language anthology of writings by Swedish art critic and museum director Ulf Linde: Essays from a Lifetime in the Arts. Curator, critic, and artist Robert Storr will discuss Linde’s career with Kersten Lind Bonnier and Peter Galassi, who edited and translated the book, which will be out on October 3 from Artbook/D.A.P. In-person. Hosted by Scandinavia House. More info here. Starts at 2:30 p.m. (ET)