Pierre Joris (1946-2025): Seven Minutes on Translation
The prolific poet, essayist, translator, and anthologist Pierre Joris died today after a long battle with cancer. Back in 2011, he wrote us these “Seven Minutes on Translation.”
On Translation
Shakir Mustafa on the Obstacles to Translating Iraqi Literature into English
Shakir Mustafa was a scholar focused on Irish literature and drama in 2003 and 2004 when the invasion and occupation of Iraq “swatted away my other interests in English, American, […]
Sunday Submissions: Exchanges ‘Endurance’ Issue
The University of Iowa’s Exchanges magazine has opened calls for submissions for its ‘Endurance’ issue. Exchanges accept translations of poetry, short or excerpted fiction, plays, and literary nonfiction into English. […]
Lit & Found: On Humor in Poetry and Translation
“If you are trying to avoid reproducing violence or trauma as it is, if you are trying to distill something in it that evokes something that makes it relatable, or accessible to a stranger—to make it vulnerable—humor plays a beautiful role there.”
Shady Lewis in Paris, on the Launch of the French Translation of ‘On the Greenwich Line’
The event for Lewis at the Institut du Monde Arabe, which took place on a sunny day in Paris, was packed, and while he spoke in Arabic via an interpreter, the majority of the audience had obviously read him in Arabic and were already laughing by the time his sentences were translated into French.
Encounters Between Languages: Nancy Roberts on Translating Ibrahim al-Koni’s ‘The Night Will Have Its Say’
“I was aware from the very start of the novel that one of its themes would be language, translation, and encounters between languages. This was one of the things that drew me to it, including the amusing and lyrical way the author describes the opening encounter between al-Kahina and the envoy sent by the Muslim general Hasan Ibn al-Nuꜥman.”
A Conversation About Miral Altahawy’s IPAF-shortlisted ‘Days of the Shining Sun’
” This is a godless world, even though Allah is mentioned all the time. The only possible heroism in the novel is that of survival in face of misery.”
‘What Have You Left Behind’: On Translating Trauma, and What To Do After Reading About Yemen
When the book went out for review, a number of reviewers got in contact with me saying what can we do after we read a book like this? So I asked Bushra: “What do you want readers to do?”
Ahmad M. Ahmad on Translating Nathalie Handal into Arabic
“The biggest difference is Nathalie’s poetic techniques are unfamiliar in Arabic. As a translator, I have tried to communicate these techniques faithfully, to preserve the poet’s tone and breath, to preserve the fine, close thread that connects the technique to the essence of the poem.”