On Knowing More Than One Language (and Some Interesting Links)

Here’s a set of links to translation-related essays, interviews, podcasts, virtual events, submission calls, and more to start the working week.

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I always have one translation-related or language-related book on my nightstand. These days, it’s Four Words for Friend: The Rewards of Using More Than One Language in a Divided World by Marek Kohn. With English being the dominant global language now, some folks might think we don’t need to know or learn other languages. This book makes a counter-case, as the title says. In addition to discussing how the knowledge of two or more languages, at any level of proficiency, works within the individual human brain to create different perspectives, frames of reference, and modes of expression, Kohn describes various communal benefits. I will probably write more at length about this book once I’m done reading. In the meantime, it reminded me of a Jack Gilbert poem, from where we get this week’s quote below. And now for the week’s links.

READ: ‘What Comes after #NameTheTranslator? Translators and Publishers Reflect on What Still Needs to Change.’ By Yilin Wang, Stefan Tobler, Sawad Hussain, and Nicholas Glastonbury. (Words Without Borders)

READ: ‘International Translation Day: What is the social role of translation in contemporary India?’ By N. Kalyan Raman. (Scroll.in)

READ: ‘Translating in Tandem: A Reading List of Collaborative Translated Literature.’ Daniel Hahn and Lisa Dillman Recommend Emi Yagi, José Ovejero, Roy Jacobsen, and More. (Literary Hub)

READ: ‘Uneasy Translations’: Rita Kothari’s new book examines the ‘manyness’ of the languages we use. An excerpt from ‘Uneasy Translations: Self, Experience and Indian Literature.’ (Scroll.in)

READ: #AshokaBookTower – ‘Breaking new ground with gentle provocations.’ Interview with Rita Kothari by Saman Waheed. (Ashoka Centre for Translation)

READ: ‘Translating the Human Experience: On Female Kurdish Poets in Translation.’ By Holly Mason Badra. (The University of Arizona Poetry Center)

READ: ‘Generation Amazing!!! How We’re Draining Language of Its Power. Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza on the “Maxim of Extravagance.”‘ (Literary Hub)

READ: ‘The English Word That Hasn’t Changed in Sound or Meaning in 8,000 Years.’ By Sevindj Nurkiyazova. (Nautilus; paywalled but the first three articles per month are free.)

READ: Essays and Interviews on Translation for National Translation Month 2022. (Words Without Borders)

READ: ‘National Translation Month 2022! A Journey Through Time and Place.’ Claire Brown. (Columbia University Press)

READ: ‘What’s the Word?’, a series of essays for National Translation Month 2022. (Catapult)

WATCH: ‘Celebrate International Translation Day with advice from some of our favorite translators.’ by Jenny Bhatt, N. Kalyan Raman, Mani Rao, Navdeep Suri, and Rakhshanda Jalil. (HarperCollins India)

WATCH: ‘Emma Ramadan on Translating Marguerite Duras’s Panics. In Conversation with Kate Zambreno at Greenlight Bookstore.‘ (Literary Hub)

ATTEND: The Age of Doubt: Translating Pak Kyongni. Kwajŏng: Celebrating the Process of Translating Korean Literature. Join translators Anton Hur, You Jeong Kim, and Dasom Yang in discussing Pak Kyongni’s The Age of Doubt. Thursday, October 6, 2022. 5:00 PM (Pacific Time.)

ATTEND: French into English: translation in practice. Course Dates: 10/10/22 – 28/11/22. Time: 18:15 – 20:15. Location: Online. Tutors: Trista Selous. (City Lit)

ATTEND: ‘Getting started in Literary Translation’ with Jen Calleja. In-person; free. Wed, 5th October. 5.30-7 pm BST. UEA Campus, Norwich, England. (University of East Anglia).

APPLY: Translator in Residence Program. (University of Iowa)

APPLY: Château de Lavigny. Writers & translators residencies. The deadline to apply is October 15th, 2022. (Source: Erika Dreifus’ The Practicing Writer newsletter.)

APPLY: Art Omi: Writers hosts authors and translators from around the world for residencies throughout the spring and fall. The deadline to apply is October 15th, 2022. (Source: Erika Dreifus’ The Practicing Writer newsletter.)

SUBMIT: The Mozhi Prize 2022. In association with Vishnupuram Literary Circle and Vishnupuram Publications. A Tamil to English Short Story Translation Competition. Last date for submission: 10 November 2022.

SUBMIT: Exchanges: Journal of Literary Translation. (University of Iowa)

SUBMIT: Translation Submissions to Tupelo Press Quarterly by October 15, 2022.

SUBMIT: Call for poetry in translation. (RHINO Poetry)

Please feel free to share these links (I’d appreciate it if you could credit this newsletter as the source.) And if you’ve got an upcoming essay, interview, or event you’d like me to include, you can send it via my contact page. I’ll try to include as many as I can.

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