Online
Translating Poetry and Prose: A Tale of Two Strategies
Translating Poetry and Prose: A Tale of Two Strategies?
From poetry to prose poetry to prose, translators are faced with challenges unique to each genre. Or are they?
Do some translation approaches lend themselves more readily to poetry versus prose, or can the same strategy work for all genres? Are these approaches more text-driven, versus translator-driven? A panel of expert literary translators of poetry and prose, some of whom are on the PEN Translation Committee, share their insights into these questions, and will encourage questions and dialogue from the audience.
…
Moderator
Nancy Naomi Carlson, poet, translator, and editor (Tupelo Quarterly), has had work published in APR, The Georgia Review, The Paris Review, andPoetry. Cargo Hold of Stars: Coolitude (Seagull), translations of Khal Torabully, is forthcoming, and An Infusion of Violets was named “new & noteworthy” by the New York Times. www.nancynaomicarlson.com.
Presenters
Marguerite Feitlowitz, author of A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture, translates from Spanish and French, most recently Small Bibles for Bad Times: Selected Prose and Poetry by Liliane Atlan. A current NEA Fellow in Translation, she is working on two books by Chilean poet Ennio Moltedo. Bill Johnston won the 2019 National Translation Award in Poetry for his rhyming verse translation of Adam Mickiewicz’s epic poem Pan Tadeusz (Archipelago Books, 2018). His most recent translation is Jeanne Benameur’s poetic novel The Child Who (Calypso Editions, 2020). He teaches Literary Translation at Indiana University. Tess Lewis’s translations from French and German include works by Walter Benjamin, Anselm Kiefer, Philippe Jaccottet, and Christine Angot. Her recent awards include the PEN Translation Prize for Maja Haderlap’s Angel of Oblivion. She is an Advisory Editor for The Hudson Review. www.tesslewis.org.