Romanian poet Nina Cassian died one month ago today. (Here she is reading her work, and here’s a great poem she wrote in New York exile). She also translated Brecht, Molière and Shakespeare, but was especially proud of her translation of…
Yearly Archives: 2014
dragons are equally important: Tolkien’s Beowulf
For those of us who can’t let go of the world of the rings, today is a good day. J. R. R. Tolkien’s translation of and commentary on the Anglo Saxon epic Beowulf is published today, edited by his 89-year-old…
Tagged with: Beowulf, critics, dragons, English, J. R. R. Tolkien, Literature, monsters, Old English, Seamus Heaney, Translation
Posted in literature, poetry, translation
Posted in literature, poetry, translation
European literature night 2014: words, pictures, and wheels
With a mission to bring new books from around the continent to the people, tonight is the sixth European literature night. In co-operation with 28 European National Institutes for Culture, the Czech organisers have brought the event to 24 cities this…
Tagged with: Belgian, bike, British Library, Czech, Europe, European Literature Night, Finnish, German, graphic novels, Iceland, Illustration, Judith Vanistendael, Kaisa Leka, Line Hoven, Literature, Lucie Lomova, Max, Polish, Spanish, Translation, Witold Szabłowski
Posted in European Literature Night, Illustration, international, literature, translation
Posted in European Literature Night, Illustration, international, literature, translation
through different lenses: best translated book award 2014
Seeing the same author through the (rose-tinted, mirrored, bi- or tri-focal?) lenses of different translators is a refreshing, if potentially disorienting, experience. This year’s Best Translated Book Award (BTBA) allows the reader to do just that. The interesting thing about this years’…
Tagged with: Diana Thow, Elisa Biagni, Eugene Ostashevsky, George Szirtes, Hungarian, Italian, László Krasznohorkai, Literature, Ottilie Muzlet, Poetry, Sarah Stickney, Susan Sontag, Translation, translator
Posted in Best Translated Book Award, books, international, literature, poetry, translation
Posted in Best Translated Book Award, books, international, literature, poetry, translation
compartment no. 6
If you read one Finnish book in translation this year, this should be it. I’ve started reading it in Finnish and it is great. Appropriately, Rosa Liksom’s Compartment No. 6 comes out in English on International Workers’ Day. In it,…
Tagged with: Compartment No. 6, Estonian, Finlandia Prize, Finnish, Finnish English Translation Co-operative, Literature, Lola Rogers, Purge, Rosa Liksom, Sofi Oksanen, Translation, translator
Posted in books, gender, international, literature, translation
Posted in books, gender, international, literature, translation
holy languages for holy week
The holy books of Christians and Jews are a complex mixture of languages and manuscripts that gloriously overlap and contradict. There are more and more chances to see this huge diversity coming together. Two exhibitions, similar content, different title: verbum…
Tagged with: Agnes Lewis, Aramaic, Bible, codex sinaiticus, English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Old English, Russian, Syriac, syriac sinaiticus, Translation, Verbum Domini exhibition
Posted in faith, international, language, translation
Posted in faith, international, language, translation
on your bike
It’s spring: time to get out on your bike, if you’re a fair weather cyclist, or, take the winter tyres off and carry on riding, if you’re a Finnish cyclist like me. But what has that got to do with…
Tagged with: Baltic, Kiswahili, Polish, Training, Translation, Translators Without Borders, Volunteers
Posted in international, language, translation
Posted in international, language, translation
april fish!
Happy April Fool’s Day! If you’re English, you’ve only got till noon to play your tricks or you’re the fool. If you’re over the channel, your day may involve April Fish, usually made of paper and attached to someone’s back…
Tagged with: April Fool, English, Flemish, French, Idioms, Italian, Language, Languages, Translation, words
Posted in April Fool's Day, international, language, words
Posted in April Fool's Day, international, language, words
three per cent: best translated book from German 2014
Just three percent of books published in the US are in translation, and less than one percent are literary fiction and poetry. The University of Rochester is trying to change that, with its three per cent website and Best Translated…
Tagged with: Austria, books, Christa Wolf, Damion Searls, drama, Elfriede Jelinek, English, feminist, German, Language, Literature, Nobel Prize, three per cent, Translation, translator, writing
Posted in Best Translated Book Award, books, gender, international, literature, translation
Posted in Best Translated Book Award, books, gender, international, literature, translation
found in translation 