Upcoming Translation Events January 2023

Tuesday, January 10:

Ross Benjamin presents the Diaries of Franz Kafka  with Merve Emre | Ross Benjamin discusses his essential new translation of Kafka's complete, uncensored diaries, in conversation with critic Merve Emre. In-person. Hosted by Rizzoli Bookstore. More info here. Register here. Starts at 6:00 p.m. (ET) 

Thursday, January 12:

Ross Benjamin presents the Diaries of Franz Kafka | Translator Ross Benjamin joins us to present his new translation of the Diaries of Franz Kafka, forthcoming from Schocken. Dating from 1909 to 1923, the handwritten diaries contain various kinds of writing: accounts of daily events, reflections, observations, literary sketches, drafts of letters, accounts of dreams, as well as finished stories. This volume makes available for the first time in English a comprehensive reconstruction of the diary entries and provides substantial new content, including details, names, literary works, and passages of a sexual nature that were omitted from previous publications. By faithfully reproducing the diaries’ distinctive—and often surprisingly unpolished—writing in Kafka’s notebooks, translator Ross Benjamin brings to light not only the author’s use of the diaries for literary experimentation and private self-expression, but also their value as a work of art in themselves. Virtual. Hosted by the Community Bookstore and Third Place Books. More info here. Register for the Zoom link here. 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. (ET)

Saturday, January 14:

Transnational Series: Julia Cimafiejeva, Valzhyna Mort & Hanif Abdurraqib | Join the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith for a virtual event with author Julia Cimafiejeva and translators Valzhyna Mort and Hanif Abdurraqib to discuss and celebrate the release of their new collection of poetry Motherfield: Poems and Belarusian Protest Diary. Virtual. Hosted by Brookline Booksmith. More info here. Starts at 12 p.m. (ET)

Wednesday, January 18:

Ann Goldstein Presents her translation of The Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes, in conversation with Merve Emre | With a foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri, Quaderno Proibito is a classic domestic novel by the Italian-Cuban feminist writer Alba de Céspedes, whose work inspired contemporary writers like Elena Ferrante. In this modern translation by acclaimed Elena Ferrante translator Ann Goldstein, Forbidden Notebook centers the inner life of a dissatisfied housewife living in postwar Rome. In-person. RSVP required. Hosted by McNally Jackson. More info here. Starts at 7 p.m. (ET)

Thursday, January 19:

The Questionable Ones: An Evening with Judith Keller and Tess Lewis | Deutsches Haus at NYU presents a reading by the author Judith Keller, currently writer-in-residence at Deutsches Haus at NYU, from her new book The Questionable Ones, (Seagull Books, forthcoming in a translation by Tess Lewis in February 2023), followed by a conversation with the writer and translator Tess Lewis. In The Questionable Ones, Judith Keller offers a collection of lively snapshots of life in Zurich that reveal the extraordinary lurking inside the ordinary and the ordinary at the core of the extraordinary. In-person. More info here. RSVP here. 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. (ET)

A Drink with The Idler: Paul Lafargue and The Right to Be Lazy | Join A Drink with the Idler for a discussion of Paul Lafargue’s The Right to Be Lazy, more than a hundred years after this great pro-idling essay was first published. To mark the publication of NYRB's new edition of this classic of anti-work literature, the Idler presents a discussion of Lafargue’s life, writings and relevance today. Alex Andriesse, the book's translator, and Lucy Sante, the introducer, will be in conversation with Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler. The discussion will be followed by a live Q&A. Idler Academy director Victoria Hull will host. Virtual. More info here. 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. (GMT)

Join Tilted Axis Press: So Distant From My Life | Tilted Axis Press present So Distant from My Life by Monique Ilboudo with translator Yarri Kamara. Virtual. Hosted by Borderless Book Club. More information here. Register for the Zoom link here. 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. (GMT)

Tuesday, January 24:

Jacob Rogers on The Last Days of Terranova with Eric Banks | Join us for a conversation on the practice of translation and often-intertwining literary and political history with translator Jacob Rogers and Eric Banks. They will discuss the translation of Manuel Rivas’s novel The Last Days of Terranova. In-person. Hosted by Archipelago Books and McNally Jackson Seaport. More info here and here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Friday, January 27:

Vladimir Gandelsman: A Man Only Needs a Room Poetry Reading | Please join the Harriman Institute to celebrate the publication of Vladimir Gandelsman’s A Man Only Needs a Room (New Meridian Press, 2022), the first comprehensive collection of the poet’s verse in English translation. Gandelsman in this reading will be joined by translators Anna Halberstadt, Olga Livshin and Andrew Janco. In-person. Hosted by the Harriman Institute. More info here. Register here. 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. (ET)

Saturday, January 28:

A. E. Stallings presents This Afterlife with Ashley Norwood Cooper | Community Bookstore and Charis Books & More welcome A. E. Stallings in conversation with Ashley Norwood Cooper for a discussion of This Afterlife: Selected Poems, a selection of sharp, witty, and impeccably crafted poems from A. E. Stallings, the award-winning poet and translator. Virtual. Hosted by the Community Bookstore and Charis Books & More, and co-sponsored by the Agnes Scott College Classics Department and Emory University Classics Department. More info here. Register for the Zoom link here. 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. (ET)

Transnational Series: Almudena Sánchez and Katie Whittemore | Join the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith for a virtual event with author Almudena Sánchez and translator Katie Whittemore to discuss and celebrate the release of their new book Pharmakon. They will be in conversation with writer and scholar Monica Cardenas. Virtual. Hosted by Brookline Booksmith. More info here. Starts at 12 p.m. (ET)

Collected Works: Virtual Book Talk with Lydia Sandgren & Emily Temple | This January, join us for a virtual book talk with Swedish author and psychologist Lydia Sandgren on her new book Collected Works. With moderator Emily Temple, she’ll discuss her compelling mystery and poignant bildungsroman about love, power, and art—and what leads us to make the pivotal decisions that change the course of our lives. Virtual. Registration required. Hosted by Scandinavia House. More info here. Register for the Zoom link here. Starts at 1 p.m. (ET)

Tuesday, January 31:

Meet the World: Imposter Syndrome | Imposter syndrome is a universal feeling for many literary translators at any stage of their career, regardless of their ability and achievements. Join us for a discussion on what it takes to feel like you’re a literary translator, featuring Nadiyah Abdullatif, Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda, Vineet Lal and Jamie Lee Searle, with Daniel Hahn in the chair. Virtual. Hosted by the National Centre for Writing, and part of the NCW's Emerging Translator Mentorships Industry Week. More info here. Starts at 7 p.m. (GMT)