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Webinar on Literary Translation

23 October 2024, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm AEDT

Join this webinar organised by AUSIT NAT for a stimulating discussion with a distinguished panel of translators from across the globe, who have successfully navigated the competitive field of literary translation.

From how to build relationships with authors and publishers to tips on honing your translation skills, this conversation will offer invaluable guidance to help you succeed as a literary translator.

Presenters: Sandra Tamele, Richard Coomes, Lilit Žekulin Thwaites and Edwige Renée Dro

Register here.

Between Cork and France: Ireland’s First Chair of Poetry John Montague in French translation

Melbourne Irish Studies Seminar Series 

image.pngPhoto: John Montague and Samuel Beckett in Paris in the 60s

When: Wednesday 11 September, 4.30pm – 5.30pm

Where: Jabiru Room, Newman College (enter via main gate and follow signs); and via Zoom

Speaker: Dr Elizabeth R Pearce, School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne

John Montague (1929 – 2016) became Ireland’s First Chair of Poetry in 1998. While living in Paris in the early 1960s Montague became friends with the Irish writer Samuel Beckett, as well as numerous French poets, writers and translators of the era, and in later years divided his time between Cork and Nice. Montague strengthened Franco-Irish connections and a thriving interest in poetry translations and readings in Paris, particularly at the Université de la Sorbonne. This talk will explore Montague’s early poem ‘All Legendary Obstacles’, followed by an exploration of the French translation, ‘Tous les obstacles légendaires’ by Claude Esteban, a contemporary of Montague in Paris.

SPEAKER

Elizabeth Pearce is a researcher in literary translation in the School of Languages and Linguistics, the University of Melbourne, where her doctorate Rhythm, poetry and meaning: Seamus Heaney and Louis MacNeice in French translation was conferred in 2019. Her research interests include contemporary Irish poetry in English and its translation into French, as well as translation of the sonnet form. In June 2023 she was invited to address the ‘John Montague Memorial Conference’ organised by Université de la Sorbonne with the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris. She collaborates with TRACT (Traduction et communication transculturelle), Université de la Sorbonne Paris 3, and is a member of the research group La Société ETC: Écrire, Traduire, Créer, Université d’Aix-Marseille.

Living in Translation: Chris Andrews and Tiffany Tsao in conversation with Yumna Kassab

All welcome!

Date: 27 September 2024, 11am

Hosted by the UWS Writing and Society Research Centre

To coincide with International Translation Day, this edition of the Writing Society and Research Centre seminars will be an in-depth conversation with the eminent translators Tiffany Tsao and Chris Andrews.
A discussion about translation is also a discussion about language, relevant to the Western Sydney community where the majority of residents have access to more than one language world. What does it mean to experience the world and then articulate that experience in more than one language? And what choices govern the translation of specific literary works such as People from Bloomington by Budi Darma (translated by Tsao) and A Bookshop in Algiers by Kaouther Adimi (translated by Andrews)? This conversation will explore the processes of Tsao and Andrews in connection with their most recent works as well as the importance of translation within the broader literary ecosystem. It will be facilitated by Yumna Kassab.

DATE: Friday 27 September 

TIME: 11am – 12:30pm

VENUE: Parramatta City Campus, Peter Shergold Building, 169 Macquarie St, Parramatta, Level 9, Conference Room 4 (2 minutes from Parramatta train station)

IN PERSON ATTENDANCE Morning tea provided; please RSVP to Suzanne Gapps, s.gapps@westernsydney.edu.au

or

ONLINE Zoom Registrations:  https://uws.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvcOurpjwqH9dak_dCgnDTcPuGLQkTP-0b

CHRIS ANDREWS translates books of prose fiction and writes poems. Among the books that he has translated from Spanish and French are Ágota Kristóf’s I Don’t Care (New Directions, 2024), Liliana Colanzi’s You Glow in the Dark (New Directions, 2024), Kaouther Adimi’s A Bookshop in Algiers (Serpent’s Tail, 2021), César Aira’s The Lime Tree (And Other Stories, 2017) and Roberto Bolaño’s Last Evenings on Earth (Harvill, 2006). His study of the Oulipo, How to Do Things with Forms, was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2022, and his third collection of poems, The Oblong Plot, is just out from Puncher & Wattmann.
TIFFANY TSAO is a novelist and a translator of Indonesian fiction and poetry into English. In 2023, her translation of Budi Darma’s People from Bloomington (Penguin Classics) was awarded the NSW Premier’s Translation Prize and the PEN Translation Prize. Her translation of Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s Happy Stories, Mostly (Giramondo Publishing) won the 2022 Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses and was listed for numerous awards, including the International Booker Prize, the ALTA National Translation Award, and the Cercador Prize. She is the first Australian translator whose work has been listed for the International Booker Prize. Tiffany has written three novels, the most recent of which, Under Your Wings (Viking, 2018) was longlisted for the Ned Kelly Award and released in the US and UK as The Majesties. Last year, she received a Create Grant from the Copyright Agency to work on her next novel. She holds a PhD in English from UC-Berkeley.
YUMNA KASSAB is a writer from Western Sydney. She is the author of The House of YoussefAustraliana and The Lovers. Her latest book, Politica, is available from Ultimo Press. It is an imagined history of the Arab world or else a feminine telling of politics. Her books have been listed for The Stella, Miles Franklin Award, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, QLD Literary Awards, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and NSW Premier’s Award. She is the inaugural Parramatta Laureate in Literature. A complete list of her writings can be found here.

After the AGM: ‘Thrills and Spills of Translation’

Register here

Writers/Translators Art Omi 2025 Residencies Call

Deadline: Oct 15, 2024

Applications are now open for 2025 sessions of the Art Omi: Architecture, Art Omi: Artists, and Art Omi: Writers residency programs!

Through a competitive jury process, residents are invited to attend Art Omi’s residencies at no cost to themselves, apart from travel. Residents have the time and space to hone their own craft while making connections with artists from around the globe and living in a vibrant community. Abundant, catered meals and comfortable, beautiful lodgings are provided on Art Omi’s bucolic campus located in New York’s Hudson Valley, two hours north of New York City. Art Omi is home to the Sculpture & Architecture Park situated amidst 120 acres of fields and forests and offers Architecture and Artists residents dedicated studio space in our Studio Barn.

📐 Art Omi: Architecture is the first residency program of its kind in the nation, inviting ten early- to mid-career architects from around the world to develop their work during a two week residency in May and June. Art Omi: Architecture aims to nurture experimentation at the intersection of architecture, art, and landscape.

🎨 Art Omi: Artists invites artists from around the world, representing a wide diversity of artistic styles and practices, to gather for four weeks in June and July to experiment, collaborate, and share ideas. Concentrated time for artistic practice is balanced with the stimulation of creative community and critical appraisal.

📚 Art Omi: Writers hosts authors and translators for two weeks to one month throughout the spring and autumn. The program’s strong international emphasis provides exposure for global literary voices and reflects the spirit of cultural exchange that is essential to Art Omi’s mission.

There is no fee to apply to the open call.

The deadline to apply is Tuesday, October 15, 2024 by 11:59 PM EST.

NCW Emerging Translator Mentorship 2024-2025

A CONVERSATION

Challenging Words:
A Conversation Between Translator & Author Daniel Hahn & Lilit Thwaites [Recorded]

📅Date: Thursday, 9 May 2024

⏰Time: 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

📍 Venue: The Research Lounge, Level 5 Arts West, Room 552, University of Melbourne, Building 148B (directions here)

Photo © John Lawrence, 2015

Daniel HAHN OBE is an award-winning writer, editor and translator with about a hundred books to his name. Recent books include Catching Fire: A Translation Diary, and translations of work by Gonçalo M. Tavares and Juan José Millás. He is a past chair of the Society of Authors (the writers’ union of the UK) and the Translators Association, and serves on the board of a number of organisations working with literature, literacy and free expression. He is one of the editors of the  The Ultimate Book Guide, a series of reading guides for children and teenagers, and the author of Happiness Is a Watermelon on Your Head, a picture book for children. He is currently compiling a collection of Brazilian short stories, translating a Colombian classic and writing a book about Shakespeare. https://www.danielhahn.co.uk/
Lilit Žekulin THWAITES is an award-winning Australian literary translator (Spanish>English), an Adjunct Professor in contemporary Spanish literature at La Trobe University, and current President of the Australian Association for Literary Translation (AALITRA). Her book translations include the bestselling The Librarian of Auschwitz, Australian Connection , and two futuristic novels by Rosa Montero, Tears in Rain, and Weight of the Heart. Her translations of short stories, essays and poetry have been published in journals and anthologies. She presents sessions at writers’ festivals, gives talks about Spain and translation, and helps organise visits to Australia by Spanish-speaking writers. She is currently translating Luisa Etxenike’s Cruzar el agua. In 2016, she received Spain’s Cross of the Order of Civil Merit for her promotion of Spain’s literatures and cultures in Australia.

https://zhuktranslations.com/;  

https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/lmthwaites

 

 

Languages & Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU) Researchers Database

Please see the link to the LCNAU database below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mu5WaAooAe1CTj5hjp3gbw-vau1QCyqjTkld3_Eu0KM/edit

Rhyme and Reason in Dante and the difficulty of translation: A talk by Simon West

Rhyme and Reason in Dante and the difficulty of translation: A talk by Simon West

13 June 2023

Thanks to those who attended this event, which was organised by AALITRA in assocation with COAS.IT and the Dante Alighieri Socety.

Thanks to Di Cousens for taking photos.

Applications open for Jan Michalski Foundation’s residency for writers

The Jan Michalski Foundation’s residency for writers is designed to provide an environment for creative writing and to support those involved in the written word.

General Terms and Conditions

Residences are available for all types of writers engaged in literary creation. While we give priority to writers and translators, we are also open to any other discipline as long as writing is at the heart of the project. Stays in the Jan Michalski Foundation are granted to individuals as well as pairs of writers working on a common project. The latter might include a writer and a translator, a writer and someone from another discipline, two writers, and so on.

Location

The Jan Michalski Foundation lies at the foot of the Swiss Jura Mountains in Montricher. The village is approximately 30 minutes from Lausanne and one hour from Geneva. It is possible to reach Montricher from Morges by train.

Six “cabins” overlook Lake Geneva and the Alps while a seventh is oriented towards the forested slopes of the Jura. One final cabin serves as a kitchen and common living area where resident writers can cook together, socialize and relax.

Applications for 2024 are now open and will be accepted until September 14, 2023.

More info: https://fondation-janmichalski.com/en/residences