Billy Bragg had a 24-hour job at a moment’s notice. He was not going to get paid for his overtime. But he was on a mission. And he made the deadline. Hear him tell the story and sing his translation.…
Blog Archives
Workers of the world unite: you have nothing to lose in translation
Tagged with: American, Billy Bragg, British, Charles Hope Kerr, Chinese, English, Eugene Pottier, Finnish, French, German, internationale, Pertti Uotila, Pete Seeger, Polish, Russian, Tagalog, Thomas Nicholas, Tiananmen Square, Translation, Welsh
Posted in international, translation
Posted in international, translation
Between the Ox and the Grey Ass
This Christmas carol, Entre le boeuf et l ‘âne gris, is well loved in France, where was written in the 13th century, but not known well at all in the English-speaking world, so I couldn’t find it sung in English anywhere online. I…
Tagged with: carol, Christmas, Entre le boeuf, Finnish, French, Heinillä harkien kaukalon, Martti Korpilahti, Paul Ayres, Translation
Posted in Christmas, faith
Posted in Christmas, faith
Suspended Sentences: New translation of Modiano
A new translation of 2014 Nobel Laureate Patrick Modiano’s stories, Suspended Sentences, comes out next month. The translator, Mark Polizotti, also happens to be publisher in chief of MoMa. These novellas are needed: Modiano in English and in print is very hard to…
Tagged with: books, cinema, Flemish, French, history, Literature, Louise Colpijn, Mark Polizotti, Nobel Prize for Literature, Patrick Modiano, Second World War, Suspended Sentences, Translation
Posted in books, cinema, history, literature, translation
Posted in books, cinema, history, literature, translation
Banned Books Week: Censored! Pippi and Tintin
This week (21-27 September) is Banned Books Week. It’s a chance – particularly in the States – to celebrate the freedom to read. What gets banned isn’t always what you expect, and it’s very contextual. In this regard, the Finnish Library Channel’s calendar…
Tagged with: banned Books Week, Belgian, Bible, Finnish, French, Pippi Longstocking, Russian, Swedish, Tintin
Posted in Banned Books Week, books, international
Posted in Banned Books Week, books, international
My Voice: A Decade of Poems from the Poetry Translation Centre
Here’s another nail in the coffin of Robert Frost’s truism that poetry is what gets lost in translation. The fabulous Poetry Translation Centre (PTC) is celebrating its first decade with My Voice, an anthology of poems translated from 23 languages…
Tagged with: Abdellatif Laâbi, Afghanistan, Andre Naffis-Sahely, Dari, French, Mimi Khalvati, Morocco, My Voice, Poetry, Poetry Translation Centre, Shakila Azizzada, Translation, Zuzanna Olszewska
Posted in books, international, language, literature, translation
Posted in books, international, language, literature, translation
100 years of pacifism 1914-2014
100 years ago today, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was shot in Sarajevo, triggering what H.G. Wells called the “war that will end war”; it wasn’t long before the irony of that phrase was felt. The Oxford English Dictionary has…
Tagged with: Émile Arnaud, English, First World War, French, Language, Oxford English Dictionary, Pacifism, Translation, words
Posted in history, international, language, words
Posted in history, international, language, words
moral language?
If you speak a language well enough to get along, but not really well, it’s an effort. You need time to think and process and a lot of energy can go into making sure you get the grammar right. As…
Tagged with: Albert Costa, English, French, international, Korean, language learning, moral language, Spanish, Translation
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
stories in translation: UK children’s book week 2013
In the UK it is Children’s Book Week from 7-11 October. How many of those books are translated from other languages? Not many, unfortunately. Here are my top 3 for 2013: One of my favourites as a young child was…
Tagged with: animals, Children's Book Week 2013, Children's literature, Estonian, French, Gunilla Wolde, Irish Gaelic, Lila Prap, Mrs Pepperpot, Oksa Pollock, Pippi Longstocking, Slovene, Sue Rose, Swedish, Welsh
Posted in Children's Book Week 2013, Illustration, international, language, literature, translation
Posted in Children's Book Week 2013, Illustration, international, language, literature, translation
Terms and conditions
Have you ever noticed that lawyers like to say the same thing twice? A marriage is to have and to hold; the partners who make and enter into it may covenant and agree that their goods and chattels are shared…
found in translation 