The Difficulty of Translating Protest: My Blood Is on Your…
The chants, slogans, and signs of the 2011 Egyptian revolution have been fodder for translation (and translation theorists) since the first protests on January 25.
On Translation
‘The Translator as Hero’: A Talk by Dr. Ferial Ghazoul
The baby is now six weeks old; انشاء الله I will not miss this. UPDATE: This talk has been postponed.
Submit Your (Arabic-to-English) Poetry Translations for These Prizes
There are roughly six zillion poetry prizes run by the small magazines of the U.S. and U.K. There are, however, very few prizes for literary works in translation. Some magazines allow (or even encourage) the submission of literary translations (see my list), but few admit these during prize season.
Which Revolutionary Poetry, Prose, Jokes, or Songs Do You Want Translated?
I’ve already sent in my first request to translatingrev@gmail.com, the email address of Dr. Samia Mehrez’s “Translating Revolution” course at the American University in Cairo.
The students of this class, according to their blog, “welcome – in fact, encourage – contributions from our readers.”
Translating Cliches
I just finished a first read of Montecore, by Tunisian-Swedish author Jonas Hassan Khemiri. (Think a more sophisticated, and Arab, Mark Leyner.)
Exile and Sense of Place in Buthaina al-Nasiri’s ‘Final Night’
In his introduction to Final Night, translator Denys Johnson-Davies notes that, “Although she has lived in Egypt for the past twenty years and was a frequent traveler to Europe in her youth, Buthaina al-Nasiri is very much an Iraqi writer….”
If You’re in Cairo: ‘From Text to Image: Translating Masculinities’
If you’re in Cairo on March 9, head over to the AUC’s Oriental Hall (just off Tahrir) for a lecture and art exhibit by Huda Lutfi.
Forthcoming in Translation and in Re-translation: al-Shafee’s ‘Metro’ and Shimon’s ‘An Iraqi in Paris’
The Guardian reported yesterday that “Banned books return to shelves in Egypt and Tunisia,” and, for at least a few books, this seems to be the case.