On Translation

Ten titles were selected for the Autumn 2016 round of PEN Translates awards.

“We support each other in our endeavors, pool our knowledge and contacts, and as a result, are stronger together than on our own.”

According to the LBF website, the criteria are “organisations that have succeeded in raising the profile of literature in translation, promoting literary translators, and encouraging new translators and translated works.”

“[M]y first thought would be to connect with fellow translators in your area and to establish ties with different artists and workshops in your area (screen printing, letterpress printing, etc.). You’ll no doubt be amazed at what kinds of communities are already out there!”

“Things I’d like to see translated into English: more of the novels of Hoda Barakat, a contemporary Lebanese writer; the essays of Abdelfattah Killito, a Moroccan literary scholar who writes sometimes in French and sometimes in Arabic; the poetry and prose of Salim Barakat, a Syrian Kurdish poet, no relation to Hoda ….; the plays of Saadallah Wannous, the Syrian Brecht (d. 1996); Adonis’ monumental Al-Kitab.”

“Ahdaf Soueif wondered whether the lack of the word ‘tarab’ in English meant that that feeling did not exist for English-speakers. And yet, she noted, there is no word for frustration in Arabic, though the feeling is well-known among Arabs. Though she does not think one can do away with these gaps, she considers them very rich.”

“The conference, set to run through the 22nd, is a star-studded affair.”