Can a Translator Develop His Own Style?
The AUC Press recently posted a video in which they talk to esteemed Arabic-English translator Humphrey Davies about the craft of translation.
On Translation
Abdelfattah Kilito on ‘The Real Miracle’ of Translation and What Classical Arabic Literature Can Offer Us
Moroccan novelist, essayist, and critic Abdelfattah Kilito has a new book out in English translation this fall: “Arabs and the Art of Storytelling: A Strange Familiarity,” co-translated by Mbarek Sryfi and Eric Sellin. Kilito recently exchanged emails with translator and critic Robyn Creswell, who shared the exchange on Aesop.
Frosty Utopias, Bilingualism on Stage, and More from Cairo’s Center for Translation Studies
The fall lecture schedule for Cairo’s Center for Translation studies includes talks by translator and academic Margaret Litvin (Hamlet’s Arab Journey), award-winning playwright Laila Soliman (Egyptian Products, Whims of Freedom), and award-winning scriptwriter […]
How To Separate Mediocre, Good, and Great Stories in Translation
Translator Max Shmookler, who is currently co-editing a collection of Sudanese short stories with ArabLit contributor Raphael Cormack, explores the tension between what Sudanese readers think is a great story and the story that will appear “great” in English translation.
Maya Abu Hayyat and Christine de Luca ‘In Love,’ and the Success of ‘A Bird is Not a Stone’
Dalya Alberge, writing in The Guardian, asserted Saturday that there is a “mini-boom” in literature translated into English. It’s hard to say if that’s the case — Alberge doesn’t have hard numbers — but the success of A Bird is Not a Stone is surely instructive.
Translation and Expectation: Which ‘For Bread Alone’ Are You Reading?
Yesterday, ArabLit posted about a new Mohamed Choukri International Award while making only slight mention of the circumstances under which Choukri’s seminal “al-Khubz al-Hafi” was translated into English. Indeed, calling it a translation is perhaps inaccurate.
Arabic Translator Barbara Romaine Among 20 to Receive NEA Translation Grants
The US-based National Endowment for the Arts has announced the latest round of literary translation fellowships.
Marilyn Hacker’s Translation Habib Tengour’s ‘Crossings’ Longlisted for 2014 NTA
No Arabic-language books made the 15-title longlist for the American Literary Translators Association’s 2014 National Translation Award (NTA). The sole Arab title was Habib Tengour’s “Crossings,” beautifully translated from the French by poet Marilyn Hacker.
Translating Najwan Darwish: ‘Are There Any More to Come?’ or ‘Oh Give Me More!’
On July 11, Marfa Public Radio aired an interview with Lannan Writer/Translator-in-Residence Kareem James Abu-Zeid, who has recently been working on translations of work by Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish, Lebanese novelist Rabee Jaber, and Iraqi poet Dunya Mikhail. He spoke particularly about the challenges and excitement of translating Darwish’s collected poems.