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Forging the Female Voice out of the Ruins of History: Reading Natalia Ginzburg
By Katrin Wehling-Giorgi In recent years, partly abetted by the phenomenal global and transmedial success of Elena Ferrante’s works, Natalia Ginzburg’s novels and short stories have undergone a major revival and rediscovery, leading to a number of (re-)translations and increasing attention by a new transnational readership.[1] As a translator herself (of Proust, Vercors, Flaubert, among […]
Tips for Reviewers: The Politics of Reviewing Translations
The theme of this year’s American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) conference was politics and translation, and Aviya Kushner and I were thrilled to kick off the very first session of panels on November 13 with “An Insider’s Look at the Politics of Reviewing Translations.” The standing-room-only attendance attested to the highly politicized nature of this […]
2014 Printers Row Lit Fest Translation Picks
As a Chicagoan transplant, I am always excited when the big book fair comes to our fair city. This year, find me volunteering all day Saturday at the Information Table or escorting authors to their events and assisting them with book signings. This year’s fest features many events of interest to Spanish-speakers, and best of all, […]
Tips for Reviewers: New Digital Tools to Assist Translators & Reviewers
As a blogger, looking over the program of offerings for the first day of the American Literary Translators’ Association (ALTA) Conference in October, “Translation and the Digital Age” was a must. Not knowing what to expect, I attended, anticipating some discussion of the benefits or detriments of digital publishing for literature in translation. What I found was […]
Tips for Reviewers: Comparative Analysis
[or how to review a translation from a language you don’t know] Eric M. Gurevitch’s review of Mani Rao‘s new translation of the Bhagavad Gita is exemplary. It does what translators wish more reviewers would do. Gurevitch illuminates Rao’s highly original approach to the oft translated epic poem that nevertheless remains unfamiliar to many Western readers, explaining […]
Tips for Reviewers: Translators’ Introductions Are Your Cheatsheet
Years ago, a friend shared with me Richard Pevear’s introduction to his and Larissa Voloknonsky’s translation of War and Peace. In it, Pevear writes, “Translation is not the transfer of a detachable ‘meaning’ from one language to another, for the simple reason that in literature there is no meaning detachable from the words that express […]
Translation Picks at Chicago’s 2013 Printers Row Lit Fest
Since I’m Chicago-based, and haven’t found this elsewhere, here’s hoping some of you will find this helpful and be able to enjoy these wonderful events. For more info on the festival, see the schedule here. Sin fronteras: A Literary Experience presented by Hoy, Contratiempo and Instituto Cervantes Angelina Llongueras, Rey Andújar Performance Saturday, June 8th 1:00p.m. – […]