Another Round-Up of Articles

Here’s another round-up of interesting, relevant articles!

I don’t often post on interpreting, so here’s an interview with someone who works as an interpreter.

Here’s an article from my alma mater, Bryn Mawr. It’s about a BA-level class that does good and it involves translation. It sounds fantastic!

Next up is a piece about publishing literary translations.

This article about what you look for in a translation. Thank you to Erika Dreifus for sending me this article! 

What are some words or expressions you might want to be using? Check out some here.

This BBC article looks at all the writers in Iceland.

Finally, a depressing tale of how a translator was treated. Read about it here or here or here.

Market Research

Here’s another market research post, but with a bonus extra market. These publications appear to be interested in translated literature.

The first magazine is called Upstreet.

The second second is The Capilano Review, and while it has a Canadian focus (so perhaps French Canadian works would fit particularly well), it is also welcoming to international work.

A Round-Up of Articles

It’s time for a round-up of interesting language/translation/writing-related articles! I have so many that I’ll divide them up into a couple of posts over the next couple of weeks!

First, here’s a piece from the BBC on slang.

“Literally” literally annoys me. My students often say (and write) things such as, “I literally died laughing.” No, you literally did not. Read about it here. Then laugh at this poster, which I own and use in class!

What is the coolest word in the English language? Do you think it’s “discombobulate”? Check out this post.

I used to live in Wales and still love going there, so this article on translating from Welsh intrigued me.

Learn English in the Philippines, which is apparently the world’s budget teacher.

My mother sent me this from Car Talk.

Finally, is it harder for women writers to get published? This article discusses that.

Sci-Fi in Translation

Science fiction is not an area I know much about, so I was grateful when Cheryl Morgan sent me this list of translated science fiction works.

Playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker

In late October, the playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker gave a talk at the university where I work on adaptation and translation.

It was a tour-de-force of a talk, exploring what we mean by a “source” or “original” (connecting this to the concept of the source of a body of water), and discussing some of her own experiences translating/adapting. She questioned whether there is a true source and if it should always be the authority. She felt that just like a river, a source is always changing.

She also noted that a good translation should reveal, and that people might need to read multiple translations in order to get these revelations about a text (and its context).

Wertenbaker herself has adapted many different texts and she said adaptation is essential because it keeps stories alive. Today, media can play this role, perhaps more than plays and novels. She said, “We need film and TV because they may be the only way that stories survive.”

These were just a few of the ideas she raised during her talk, which was generally quite thought-provoking.

Translation Goals

I always think it’s a great idea to set translation goals for the year ahead.

As usual, I want to improve as a translator, and this means working on different texts, working with authors/editors, improving my linguistic knowledge, and going to conferences. That’s quite a lot to do, of course, so I’ll see what I can accomplish during 2014.

Another major goal is to continue read translations and to think about the work of translators.

What about you?