As one of the judges for the Best Translated Book Award this year, I’ve been sharing my thoughts on a few of the books under consideration for the prize with the readers of the fabulous website Three Percent. Here’s a sample: On Yoel Hoffmann’s Moods, translated by Peter Cole for New Directions “The specter of stories untold is especially … More Dispatches from the BTBA
I may have been a bit lax on the blog lately, but I’ve been writing quite a bit (chau, dissertation). I’m pretty excited about my most recent book review: not only was it for Music & Literature—one of my favorite mags—but I also got to talk about the latest translation of a book by Mario Bellatin, a … More All about Bellatin
A few months ago, I found myself de sobremesa with a motley bunch of porteños and transplants from all corners, staring at the cheese rinds, empty bottles, and cracker shards scattered across the table as reminders of the pleasant meal we’d just shared and the less pleasant morning to come. In one of the sated … More on causes, lost and found.
If there’s one thing translators and theorists of translation love to discuss, debate, and ultimately disagree about, it’s the extent to which a translated work should sound “natural” in the target language. It’s been a hot topic since at least 1813, when Friederich Schleiermacher presented his two opposing methods of translating—the first being to move … More in other words
Sergio Chejfec’s had a busy year. In the States, he’s been traveling from coast to coast for My Two Worlds (trans. M. Carson), which was nominated for a Best Translated Book Award back in February, and teaching with NYU’s Creative Writing in Spanish MFA program. And then there’s the latest novel, La experiencia dramática, which … More the dramatic experience
Words Without Borders (an invaluable resource for those interested in literature in translation) just put up a review I wrote of César Aira’s Varamo, “an effervescent morsel best devoured in one sitting, confected of a series of loosely related and generally madcap episodes, and laced with moments of surprising conceptual density.” (Do I quote myself? … More a day in the life of an accidental writer
Scott Esposito (editor of The Quarterly Conversation and all-around superstar advocate of literary translation) recently wrote a very insightful piece on Sergio Chejfec’s meandering and meditative jewel, My Two Worlds (Open Letter, 2011) for The Critical Flame. In it, he likens Chejfec’s narrative sensibility to that of W.G. Sebald, particularly for the way in which … More A keen eye for Chejfec
So, Sergio Chejfec’s My Two Worlds comes out today, in Margaret Carson’s translation (you’ll have to read it if you want to know what’s up with that picture of a swan). In the meantime, a few reactions have started cropping up; Publisher’s Weekly praises the book as “a significant event” and Kirkus Reviews calls it … More Review round-up: My Two Worlds
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for the blog, but that’s not to say I haven’t been keeping busy. I just finished the manuscript draft of my translation of Los Planetas, a beautiful, melancholy novel by contemporary Argentinean writer Sergio Chejfec. I’ve also been keeping track of another of his, titled My Two … More The first of many.
So, it’s been a little longer than planned. But the time was not lost – in fact, a few things have come to fruition in the past weeks. As a way of jumping back in, and before I post my review of El secreto de sus ojos, which is on its way, I thought I’d … More Hello, Like Before
Heather Cleary 