Emerging Literary Translator Valley of Death: How I Got Out Alive

According to Anton Hur’s Words Without Borders essay “The Emerging Literary Translator Valley of Death,” from which this panel takes its inspiration, many literary translators simply give up at some point in the Valley—after magazine publications, competition wins, and even a degree in translation. While we realize everyone’s path will look different, it is our hope that by sharing our specific journeys of how we navigated this treacherous terrain, we will be able to offer valuable insight and perhaps provide a guide for those still wandering in the Valley. The session will conclude with a Q&A.

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Moderator

Janet Hong is a writer and translator from Korean. Before receiving the 2018 TA First Translation Prize for her translation of Han Yujoo’s The Impossible Fairy Tale, which was shortlisted for both the 2018 PEN Translation Prize and the 2018 National Translation Award, she spent 16 years in the Valley.

Presenters

Anton Hur was born in Stockholm and currently divides his time between Seoul and Incheon. A winner of both PEN Translates and the PEN/Heim grant, he has published two books and has five forthcoming. He coined the term “Emerging Literary Translator Valley of Death.” Natascha Bruce translates fiction from Chinese. Her translations include Lonely Face by Yeng Pway Ngon (Balestier, 2019) and Lake Like a Mirror by Ho Sok Fong (Two Lines, 2020). She was granted the 2016 ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship for a Singaporean Language, working with mentor Jeremy Tiang. Jeffrey Zuckerman is an editor at Music & Literature and a translator from French, most recently of Jean Genet’s The Criminal Child and Hervé Guibert’s Written in Invisible Ink: Selected Stories. A finalist for the French-American Foundation Translation Prize, he is a winner of the French Voices Award Grand Prize.