Upcoming Translation Events (Virtual & In-Person): November 2023

Wednesday, November 1:

What a Way to Make a Livin': Writing about Work | The Festival Neue Literatur partners present the 2023 Friedrich Ulfers Prize Ceremony and the Festival Neue Literatur satellite event, "What a Way to Make a Livin': Writing about Work.” This year’s Friedrich Ulfers Prize will be awarded to the literary translator and writer Tess Lewis. The Festival Neue Literatur satellite event, "What a Way to Make a Livin': Writing about Work,” will feature readings by and a conversation among authors Dorothee Elmiger, Andrea Grill, Anja Kampmann, and Christine Smallwood, and will be moderated by Tess Lewis. In-person. Hosted by Festival Neue Literatur. More info here. 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Barrios Book in Translation Roundtable | The NBCC is honored to bring together the translators of 5 of the 6 finalists for the inaugural Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize in a panel discussion about the art and craft of translation. Our panelists include Jennifer Croft, Boris Dralyuk, Mara Faye Lethem, Christina MacSweeney, and Mark Polizzotti. The discussion will be moderated by Mandana Chaffa, NBCC board member and vice president of the Barrios Prize committee. Virtual. Hosted by the National Book Critics Circle. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

In Translation: The Complete Clarice Lispector Translations | We are pleased to invite you to join us for a celebration of the complete set of new Clarice Lispector translations published by New Directions—an enormous two-decade project spearheaded by Benjamin Moser (the translator of the just-published The Apple in the Dark). John Keene, Rivka Galchen, and Lucas Iberico Lozada will be joining us for a discussion about the stunning new translation of The Apple in the Dark—a chiefly metaphysical book about the nature of existence and creation—and the great Brazilian legend Clarice Lispector, who is widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of the twentieth-century, “a penetrating genius” (Donna Seaman, Booklist). The event will include a dynamic performance by actors from Group.BR, New York’s premiere Brazilian theatre company: Debora Balardini, Andressa Furletti, and Gonçalo Ruivo. Following the event we will have a reception with food and drink provided by the Consulate General of Brazil in New York. Hybrid (Virtual and in-person). Hosted by the Center for Fiction, in partnership with the Consulate General of Brazil in New York and Group.BR. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Thursday, November 2:

Community Across Borders: Printed Matter in the Americas | Nicole Cecilia Delgado (La Impresora), Christopher Rey Pérez (Dolce Stil Criollo press), and Silvina Lopez Medin (Ugly Duckling Presse) in conversation. In-person. Hosted by Ugly Duckling Presse. More info here. Starts at 6:00 p.m. (ET)

European Literature Night | Annually, European Literature Night is a brilliant and lively showcase of a diverse and wide range of contemporary writers across many genres, from fiction and poetry, to memoir and histories. The evening will feature multilingual readings, a musical performance, panel discussions and Q&As, as we introduce the audience to the best of contemporary European literature. Authors, translators, and performers representing 11 E.U. countries will gather for an evening of cultural exchanges and conversations exploring the way history has shaped the current crises facing Europe and the power of literature to unearth the truths about how we live and understand the role of writers in times of war and political upheavals. In-person. Hosted by the Ukrainian Institute of America. More info here. 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. (ET)

Bora Chung: Cursed Bunny with Anton Hur | Please join us for an in-store event with Bora Chung, in conversation with Anton Hur. Hybrid (in-person and virtual). Hosted by Books are Magic, presented in collaboration with the Asian American Writers' Workshop. More info here. 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. (ET) 

2023 Words Without Borders 20th Anniversary Virtual Gala | Join us and a dazzling group of authors and translators for a celebration of the power of international literature! Hosted by Merve Emre and featuring readings by Ilya Kaminsky, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Poupeh Missaghi, and Laila Lalami, we’ll also offer virtual greetings from our global community and host a fundraising appeal for Words Without Borders Campus. More info here. Starts 7:00 p.m. (ET) 

Friday, November 3:

Cursed Bunny at New York Public Library: Bora Chung and Anton Hur in Conversation with Frances Cha | 53rd Street Library invites the author and translator of Cursed Bunny, a work that has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and has won a PEN/HEIM translation grant. This event will be moderated by Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face. The event will be registration-based, as it is scheduled to take place after the library closes. The program will be conducted in English. In-person. Hosted by the New York Public Library. More info here. 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Colloquy #9: Translating Visual Poetry with Mónica de la Torre, Michael Kasper, and Olivia Sears | On Friday, November 3rd, join us for the ninth installment of Colloquy: Translators in Conversation, spotlighting visual poetry, with readings and discussion from Mónica de la Torre, Michael Kasper, and Olivia Sears, 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. Hosted at the Center for Book Arts. 28 W 27th St New York, NY 10001. More info here. 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. (ET) 

Monday, November 6:

Jhumpa Lahiri at St. Joseph's | Greenlight and St. Joseph's are honored to welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jhumpa Lahiri to celebrate the launch of her newest release, Roman Stories. Written in Jhumpa Lahiri’s adopted language of Italian and seamlessly translated by the author, Rome is the protagonist, not the setting, of these nine stories. Acclaimed author Edwidge Danticat speaks with Lahiri about Roman Stories, her first short story collection by the master of the form since her number one New York Times bestseller Unaccustomed Earth, for this every special evening at St. Joseph's University. In-person. Hosted by Greenlight and St. Joseph’s University. More info here. Starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET)

Translating, Publishing, and Producing Ukrainian Drama hosted by Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies | This virtual panel will bring together three theater translators—Anna Halas, John Freedman, and Sam Buggeln, who is also artistic director of The Cherry Arts, a theater in Ithaca, NY—to talk about their experiences of translating, publishing, producing, and promoting Ukrainian drama. Join them to gain insight into the challenges and rewards of working with plays from an underrepresented culture and learn about the Ukrainian Drama Translations digital library (Anna), A Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War (John), and Voices of Ukraine theater evenings (Sam). Online event. More info here. 12:00 - 1:20 p.m. (ET)

Tuesday, November 7:

Djuna: Counterweight with Translator Anton Hur | An “antic, madcap noir with flair" (Wired) and “fast-paced cyberpunk story” (The New York Times Book Review) from one of South Korea's most revered science fiction writers, whose identity remains unknown, Djuna's Counterweight is an absorbing tale of corporate intrigue, political unrest, unsolved mysteries, and the havoc wreaked by one company’s monomaniacal endeavor to build the world’s first space elevator. Originally conceived by Djuna as a low-budget science fiction film, with literary references as wide-ranging as Joseph Conrad and the Marquis de Sade, Counterweight is part cyberpunk, part hard-boiled detective fiction, and part parable of South Korea’s neocolonial ambition and its rippling effects. Hybrid (in-person and virtual). Hosted by The Korea Society. More info here. Starts at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

Meet the World: Translating Genre | In this event, we explore translating genre fiction – from Scandinavian noir to horror to speculative fiction and fantasy. What are the joys and what are the challenges of translating within the conventions of genre? How does translating commercial fiction differ from literary fiction, from translation to publication? In this event chaired by Dr. Jacky Collins, translators Alex Fleming, Rosie Hedger and Megan Turney explore translating genre fiction. This event is co-programmed with BCLT as part of the BCLT Advanced Scandinavian Translation Workshop, supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, NORLA and the Swedish Arts Council. The event will be online and registration based. More info here. 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (ET)  

Wednesday, November 8:

Translation Conversation Series: Damion Searls presents his translation of A Shining by Jon Fosse, in conversation with Merve Emre | Join us for a conversation and celebration of A Shining, the newest translated work from 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature winner Jon Fosse. In Fosse's first novel since his critically acclaimed Septology, a man starts driving without knowing where he is going. He alternates between turning right and left, and ultimately finds himself stuck at the end of a forest road. It soon grows dark and begins to snow. But instead of searching for help, he ventures, foolishly, into the dark forest. Inevitably the man gets lost, and as he grows cold and tired, he encounters a glowing being amid the obscurity. Strange, haunting and dreamlike, A Shining is the latest work of fiction by National Book Award-finalist Jon Fosse, “the Beckett of the twenty-first century” (Le Monde). In-person. Hosted by McNally Jackson. More info here. Starts at 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Thursday, November 9:

Translating Lies and Sorcery: A Conversation with Jenny McPhee | On November 9th, Jenny McPhee, translator of Elsa Morante's Lies and Sorcery, will be discussing the book in conversation with Ann Goldstein and Franco Baldasso at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU. Elsa Morante is one of the titans of twentieth-century literature—Natalia Ginzburg said she was the writer of her own generation that she most admired—and yet her work remains little known in the United States. Written during World War II, Morante’s celebrated first novel, Lies and Sorcery, is in the grand tradition of Stendhal, Tolstoy, and Proust, spanning the lives of three generations of wildly eccentric women. Hybrid (in-person and virtual). Hosted by Casa Italiana NYU. More info here. Starts at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

Saturday, November 11:

Soul House, Celebrating Mireille Gansel’s Poetry: Mireille Gansel and Joan Seliger Sidney | On Saturday, November 11, at 3pm, join Mireille Gansel and Joan Seliger Sidney for an afternoon of poetry readings and conversation, to celebrate the publication of Gansel’s poetry collection Soul House, translated from the French by Joan Seliger Sidney and published by World Poetry. In the first of her poetry books to appear in English, acclaimed French-Jewish poet, translator, and translation-theorist Mireille Gansel crisscrosses time and extends hospitality to exiled poets and peoples in her quest to recreate a lost literary and spiritual home. In-person. Hosted by Albertine Books. More info here. 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. (ET)

Monday, November 13 POSTPONED:

What Lies Between: A Celebration of Translation and Collaboration | Upon the publication of Aftab Ahmad’s Urdu translation of Geetanjali Shree’s Hindi novel Ret Samadhi (Tomb of Sand) featuring Aftab Ahmad (MESAAS) and Daisy Rockwell (2023 International Booker Prize winner). In-person.  Co-sponsored by the Barnard College Translation Studies Program, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, the Literary Translation Program at the School of the Arts, and the South Asia Institute. More info here. 4:15 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (ET)

Thursday, November 16:

The International Library and Celebrate Mexico Now: Stitches, Secrets, Shame with Jazmina Barrera, Valeria Luiselli, and Christina MacSweeney | Stitches, secrets, shame: Mexican writer Jazmina Barrera’s first novel, Cross-Stitch, translated into English by Christina MacSweeney, stitches together a coming-of-age story with a feminist history and theory of embroidery. Mila, Citlali, and Dalia, childhood friends now college-aged, leave Mexico City for the London of The Clash and the Paris of Gustave Courbet. They anticipate the bookstores, cafés, and crushes, but not the realization that they are steadily, inevitably growing apart. Hybrid (virtual and in-person). Hosted by the Center for Fiction, in collaboration with the American Library in Paris for The International Library, and presented in partnership with Celebrate Mexico Now. More info here. Starts at 1:30 p.m. (ET)

Writers at Barnard: Idra Novey in conversation with Jhumpa Lahiri | The Barnard Creative Writing Program is thrilled to welcome Idra Novey (‘00) to Barnard for her first event since her graduation, in conversation with Director of Creative Writing, Jhumpa Lahiri (‘89). Her new novel Take What You Need explores the fractured relationship between a stepmother and daughter and their familial hurt and familial love with, as novelist Garth Greenwell writes, a “ferocious intelligence about the impulse to make beauty in a country coming apart at the seams.” In-person. Hosted by the Barnard Creative Writing Program. More info here. Starts at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

Friday, November 17:

Us & Them: A Writer-Translator Reading Series | Tess Lewis (Judith Keller, German), Karen Emmerich (Alki Zei, Greek), Brian Robert Moore (Michele Mari, Italian), and Timmy Straw & Ainsley Morse (Igor Gulin & Grigori Dashevsky, Russian) present original writing and new translations. In-person. Hosted by Molasses Books. More info here. Starts at 8:00 p.m. (ET)

Saturday, November 18:

Translation Talks: Manolis Aligizakis and Sharon Doli | Learn from two stellar Griffin Poetry Prize finalists about translation and poetry. Translation Talks will run for approximately one hour on Zoom and will be hosted by Griffin Poetry Prize editorial director Adriana Oniță and social media editor Medgine Mathurin. Virtual. Organized by the Griffin Poetry Prize. More info here. 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. (ET) 

Tuesday, November 21:

Book Launch and Conversation: An Ordinary Youth | Michael Lipkin will present his new translation of Walter Kempowski's first novel and engage Lauren Wolfe and Corey Robin in a discussion about the remarkable life and career of one of Germany’s most renowned post-war writers. An Ordinary Youth is Walter Kempowski’s first novel, an immediate bestseller when it came out in Germany in 1971 as Tadellöser & Wolff. To this day, it is the best known of Kempowski's novels in Germany. Now, for the first time, An Ordinary Youth, published by New York Review Books, is available in English in a translation by Michael Lipkin. In-person. Hosted by the Goethe-Institut New York and co-presented by New York Review Books and the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. More info here. Starts at 6:30 p.m. (ET)

Tuesday, November 28:

Petra Hůlová & Alex Zucker in Conversation | This event is devoted to the work of Petra Hůlová, a leading Czech writer, and Alex Zucker, possibly the best contemporary translator from Czech. It is a rare opportunity to meet them both in a seminar type discussion, moderated by Dr Jana Fischerova from the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies at Trinity College Dublin. In addition to discussing both guests’ work in general, we shall focus on Petra Hůlová’s recent book Stručné dějiny hnutí, a dark, funny dystopian novel, which Alex Zucker has translated into English as The Movement. The thought-provoking text, which has been called both feminist and anti-feminist, is about what could happen if women were able to stop men from seeing them only as objects of lust. Hybrid (in-person and virtual). Hosted by the Trinity Centre for Literary & Cultural Translation. More info here. 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. (ET)