Omid Tofighian on Debordering and Literary Translation

On March 10, Omid Tofighian was scheduled to talk at the London Book Fair about “Displaced Voices: Translating Writing by Refugee and Exiled Authors,” along with Shalim M Hussain and several others:

The fair didn’t happen, but Tofighian and fellow would-be-panelist M Lynx Qualey — assisted by panel-organizer Literature Across Frontiers and sponsors Arts Council England and Amazon Crossing — got to together to discuss his work.

Tofighian is a lecturer in philosophy formerly at the American University in Cairo; now adjunct lecturer New South Wales, honorary associate and University of Sydney, researcher, community advocate, and accidental literary translator.

He is author of Myth and Philosophy in Platonic Dialogues, translator of Behrouz Boochani’s multi-award winning book No Friend but the Mountains: Writing From Manus Prison, and co-editor of ‘Refugee Filmmaking’, Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media. He and ArabLit’s M Lynx Qualey talk about his translation of Behouz Boochani’s multi-award winning book “No Friend but the Mountains: Writing From Manus Prison,” the process of debordering, and ways we can center writers and artists impacted by border violence.

Listen here:

Also listen: How Mahmoud Darwish Inspired a Poetry Movement in Assam, India