S273. Translating Asian Prose

Room 1, Tampa Convention Center, First Floor
Saturday, March 10, 2018
4:30 pm to 5:45 pm

 

Four accomplished translators, working in Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese, discuss the difficulties posed by translating Asian prose. Covering topics such as rendering vernacular and regional dialects, conveying humor, handling challenges arising from logographic and alphasyllabary words and grammars, and considering the political consequences of the work, this panel reveals insights into translating languages and genres underrepresented in US publishing and at AWP.


Participants

Moderator:

Charles Waugh is an editor and translator of the books Wild Mustard: New Voices from Vietnam and Family of Fallen Leaves. A Fulbright fellow and NEA Literary Translation grantee, he has published in The Literary Review, Words Without Borders, Foreign Policy, Two Lines, and many other fine journals.

Michelle Kyoko Crowson is a writer, translator, and PhD candidate in comparative literature at the University of Oregon. Her work has appeared in Words Without Borders, Oregon Quarterly, Silk Road, Permafrost, Foothill: A Journal of Poetry, and others. She holds an MFA from Vermont College.

Noh Anothai was a researcher with Fulbright Thailand between 2012–2013. Since then, his translations from Thai have appeared in journals like Asymptote, whose spring 2017 issue he headlined. His translation of Thai national poet Sunthorn Phu is the first to be published outside of Thailand.

Bonnie Chau has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University, with a concentration in translation (French and Chinese fiction). Her writing has appeared in Timber, Drunken Boat, Queen Mob’s Tea House, The Offing, Cosmonauts Avenue, and other journals. A Kundiman fellow, she works at Poets & Writers.

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February 7–10, 2024
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Convention Center