Tagged: Translation
Our translation programme, supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation, is part of our commitment to invigorating translation: celebrating our country's linguistic diversity, encouraging more readers to engage with literature from around the world, demolishing cultural barriers and supporting the development of professional translators. In a world increasingly dominated by English as the lingua franca, we want everyone to to know the pleasures and benefits of foreign languages, and to appreciate the wealth of literature the world has to offer.
Working closely with the British Centre for Literary Translation and many of our other residents and associates, Free Word runs a lively and substantial programme of events, activities and projects with our residents and associates to promote and explore the world of translation. Through our Global Translation Initiative we co-organise the annual symposium International Translation Day: an opportunity for translators, students, publishers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers and reviewers to gather and debate significant issues and developments within the sector, to discuss challenges, and to celebrate success. We also appoint two translators-in-residence each year: throughout this winter and spring our new recruits Ollie Brock and Canan Marasligil will be working to find new approaches to translation through a curated series of live and online events and discussions, focusing on the cultural and political impacts of literary translation in French, Turkish and Spanish. Alongside this we host numerous events exploring international language and culture, including the African Book Festival, the Literary Translation Cafe at the London Book Fair, and our international investigation of education, Writers' Bloc.
Through projects like Arvon's Mother Tongues and English PEN's Brave New Words, and with promotional grants and translation funds, our residents and associates work both locally and internationally to break down cultural barriers and promote dialogue between multilingual communities.
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Tired of Being Black? A Child’s-Eye View of Literature
Gabriel Gbadamosi's novel 'Vauxhall' and Colin Grant's memoir 'Bageye at the Wheel' both feature child narrators who act as go-betweens between black and white worlds. In an evening at the Free Word Centre exploring how blackness can be both defining and limiting for authors, Colin, Gabriel and members of the audience spoke to us about the child characters from their favourite books who made an impression on their lives.
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The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Goes for “Detour”
Dutch tale The Detour has been announced as the winner of the 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, at an awards ceremony sponsored by Tattinger in London, tonight, 20th May 2013. Themes of infidelity, exile and isolation won over the judges of this year’s Prize to give the author his second major prize win. His previous novel The…
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Writers’ Room: Ece Temelkuran
The Turkish novelist and journalist speaks to our Translator in Residence about why Anna Karenina is more real than Margaret Thatcher, and why a writer's best friend is a waiter who asks no questions.
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Power to the Readers!
This year's Independent Foreign Fiction prize is being shadowed by reading groups up and down the country nominating their own winner of a Reader's Prize. We spoke to some of the book groups about the challenge of picking a winner.
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Monday Reads: “Ali & Ramazan”
Ali & Ramazan tells the true story of two boys who meet in an Istanbul orphanage who become close friends, and then lovers. Though they care deeply for each other, they suffer terrible hardship at both the hands of the orphanage's headmaster and the country's mandatory military service laws. It was written by Turkish author and journalist…
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Lust in Translation
Andrés Neuman adds some fire to this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Shortlist with his epic novel Traveller of the Century, which explores an affair between the hearts, minds and bodies of two literary translators. Together they build a language of understanding as they work to translate European poetry, whilst continuing a secret sexual relationship, leading…
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Writers’ Room: Perihan Mağden
Turkish author, poet and journalist Perihan Mağden talks to our Translator in Residence Canan Marasligil about the trials of journalism, giving a voice to the unheard, and having her book 'murdered' by a translator.
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Literary Translation at the London Book Fair 2013
The full programme for this year's Literary Translation Centre at the London Book Fair has been announced, with a diverse and comprehensive collection of events for anyone with a passion for the growing industry of literary translation. With events including introductions to the craft, explanations of what publishers look for, interactive translation games and profiles of key markets, this is a dynamic and thorough programme programme suitable for everyone from the seasoned professional to the curious newcomer.
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Translating Poetry into Dance
Last week we hosted 'Off the Page', the latest in our series of events from our Translators in Residence, where choreographers Marquez & Zangs experimented translating three versions of a poem into dance. Ellie Steel, editor at Harvill Secker, was in the audience. In the first of a series of blogs written for Harvill Secker, had this to say about the event.
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Monday Reads: “Is That a Fish in Your Ear?”
From foreign films to philosophy, David Bellos' book explores the universal human question of how we make ourselves understood to other people. How do you translate a joke? An insult? A custom? What's the difference between a native tongue and a learned one? Bold and insightful, Bellos explodes received ideas about the art of translation and explains why it…
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Writers’ Room: Canan Marasligil on Translation
Fresh off the train from Amsterdam, Canan Marasligil starts her time as one of our Translators in Residence this month. We caught up with her to talk about her passion for comics, and the cultural barriers between Turkey and the UK.
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More of our Favourite Untranslatable Words
Our last list of untranslatable words was so popular that we decided to put together another. We've included some of your recommendations, some of our favourites that we didn't have space for last time, and a few gems we've just discovered. Enjoy!
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Audio: Untranslatable Words
Every language has unique words untranslatable into other tongues, which can speak volumes about the character of the cultures they come from. At our Migration Stories event, our Translator in Residence Ollie Brock brought together multilingual poets Nii Parkes, Maria Jastrzebska and Sofia Buchuck to talk about how they navigate the interlocking words and ideas of their different languages. We…
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100 Things You Never Knew About Turkey
We continue our journey through Turkish culture with football teams, Noah's Ark and the Eurovision Song Contest.
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How Do You Translate the News?
Our Translator in Residence Ollie Brock explores the interlocking linguistic challenges of our global media in advance of 'Whose News Is It Anyway?' our event exploring translation in the news on Wednesday 20th February.
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Our Favourite Untranslatable Words
For our “Migration Stories” event we asked you to contribute your favourite untranslatable words – and you outdid yourselves! We couldn’t get through all of the suggestions on the night, so we decided to share some of our favourites with you here. Which do you like? And can you think of some good ones we’ve missed? Tweet us @freewordcentre to let us know.
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Writers’ Room: Ollie Brock on Translation
Each week we speak to someone close to Free Word with a story to tell. Recently installed as one of our two Translators in Residence, Ollie Brock is a literary translator of both Spanish and French, planning to explore translation from new angles with a series of events at Free Word. We stole five minutes of his time to ask what the day-to-day life of a translator is like, what plans he has for his residency with us, and whether Google Translate and the like will ever put him out of of a job.
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Words in the Mirror
Ollie Brock, one of Free Word's new Translators in Residence, explains why he's chosen to start his residency with a discussion of 'untranslatable' words.
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Season’s Greetings from Free Word
Free Word will be closed for the Christmas period from Friday 21st December until re-opening on Wednesday 2nd January. But don't worry: we've plenty of excitement planned for the new year. Mary Kuper's exhibition of beautifully illustrated etymologies, Word Origins, continues in the main hall until February 15th, available to all for free on weekdays from 9am…
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Audio: Translated Literature in the UK, Part 2
International Translation Day 2012 opened with a panel of industry experts discussing the state of translated literature in the UK. Alexandra Buchler of Literature Across Frontiers, Jonathan Ruppin from Foyles, Christopher MacLehose of MacLehose Press and Boyd Tonkin of The Independent talked with Daniel Hahn from the British Centre for Literary Translation about the opportunities and challenges of today's marketplace. In the second of two posts on the event, we've brought together recordings of some of the key moments from their discussion.
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Upcoming Event: Mother Tongue, Other Tongue
An information session for teachers
Sat 1 Jun, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Free Word Lecture Theatre
Mother Tongue Other Tongue is a multi-lingual poetry project intended to celebrate cultural diversity and the many languages spoken in schools in Great Britain. It is a Poet Laureate Education project supported by the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. Initially run as a regional pilot by Manchester Metropolitan University and Routes into Languages North West, the competition is…
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Upcoming Event: First Lines
An evening of readings by new translators
Thu 13 Jun 2013
7:00pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
The British Centre for Literary Translation invites you to the launch of First Lines #2: New Translations by New Translators, an anthology which celebrates the successful completion of our 2013 mentoring programme for emerging talent in literary translation. You will be entertained to readings from fifteen different languages ranging from Tamil to Turkish, on subjects as diverse as trial by fire to…
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Upcoming Event: International Translation Day 2013
Mon 30 Sep 2013, 9:00am - 5:00pm
British Library
Now in its fourth year, the International Translation Day symposium is an annual event for the translation community. It is an opportunity for translators, students, publishers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers and reviewers to gather and debate significant issues and developments within the sector, to discuss challenges and to celebrate success. Following a sold out day last year, this year the day…
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Past Event: We Have a Voice!
Thu 23 May 2013
1:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Join a chorus of young people at the Free Word Centre to celebrate the power of storytelling! Free Word’s Translator in Residence Canan Marasligil has been running a series of creative workshops with three schools in Islington throughout the spring, exploring storytelling in all its forms. From comics to recipes, poems to fairytales, young people from Islington Arts…
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Past Event: Laydeez Do Comics
Mon 20 May 2013
6:00pmThe Gallery, Foyles Bookshop
Join our Translator in Residence Canan Marasligil as she speaks at this month's Laydeez Do Comics at Foyles Bookshop in London. A celebration of women who are writers, illustrators, comic makers and graphic artists of all stripes, the evening is open to all. Entry is free, but contributions are welcome for drinks and cake. Register your place here. This…
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Past Event: Signs
Fri 3 May 2013
1:00pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Children from Frank Barnes School for the Deaf and Gospel Oak School share what they have learned in workshops on signed poetry. Artist and performer Deepa Shastri, together with with poet Nadia Nadarajah, will lead workshops in the schools in April exploring the richness of translation between sign language and English, enouraging the children to come up with inventive ways…
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Past Event: Britain and Beyond
A festival of events exploring migration and national identity at Literaturhaus Salzburg.
Wed 24 Apr - Fri 26 Apr
Literaturhaus Salzburg
All history is the history of migration. We are all where we are because our ancestors came from somewhere else. And yet nothing is as disturbing to national societies as the movement of people. Immigration has alays been a contentious issue. On the one hand there are those who believe that it leads to a loss in national culture and…
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Past Event: Turkish Crime Writing
Fri 19 Apr 2013
7:00pmEdinburgh Central Library
Our Translator in Residence Canan Marasligil chairs a discussion between Turkish writers Ahmet Ümit and Murat Mentes at the Edinburg Central Library, as part of a British Council cultural exchange and celebration of Turkey in 2013. Ahmet Ümit is a leading figure in Turkish crime writing and several of his novels have been adapted for screen and television. Murat…
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Past Event: Your Voice; My Voice
An evening with Perihan Magden and Neel Mukherjee.
Mon 15 Apr 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
How do you give a voice to the unheard? Join writers Perihan Magden (Turkey) and Neel Mukherjee (India/UK) as they discuss their writing and how it relates to the countries and cultures that shaped their lives. While their work describes different realities and explores distinct imaginary worlds, both writers share the urge to give a voice to the…
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Past Event: Literary Translation Centre at the London Book Fair 2013
A hub for learning, debate and networking for everyone passionate about translation.
Mon 15 Apr - Wed 17 Apr
The London Book Fair at Earl's Court
A coming together for publishers, translators, authors, editors, students and anyone passionate about the art and business of literary translation, the Literary Translation Centre presents a programme of lively events across three days at the London Book Fair. With introductions to the craft, explanations of what publishers look for, interactive translation games and profiles of key markets, this is a…
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Past Event: Off The Page: Translating Poetry into Dance
Thu 21 Mar 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
"Watch out for intellect, because it knows so much it knows nothing" – so warned the poet Anne Sexton. But how do we bypass intellect? In an evening of readings and performance, choreographers Marquez & Zangs will look at how a poem can be translated into movement. Versions in English, French and Spanish of Guillaume Appollinaire’s poem &ldquo…
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Past Event: Open Workshops for “Off the Page”
Mon 18, Tue 19 and Wed 20 March: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Free Word Lecture Theatre
‘Watch out for intellect, because it knows so much it knows nothing’ – so warned the poet Anne Sexton. But how do we bypass intellect? Ahead of Off the Page, a special evening event on Thursday 21st March, choreographers Marquez & Zangs will be taking versions of a poem in three languages and experimenting with 'translating' them into…
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Past Event: Whose News is it Anyway?
Translation and Language in the Media
Wed 20 Feb 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Who translates the news, and what is the impact of that translation? A group of experts will discuss the use and abuse of translation in reporting daily international news in both mainstream and social media at this special panel debate. Liliane Landor, Controller of Languages, Global News, at the World Service; Biljana Scott, a linguist and expert in diplomatic language…
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Past Event: Wordkeepers
An evening of wordplay and tongue-twisting enquiry!
Wed 6 Feb 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Who gets to choose the words we use? In her current exhibition ‘Word Origins’, artist and illustrator Mary Kuper explores the curious growth and origins of the words which make up our language. Where do they come from? And where are they going? Join Mary and a panel of expert wordsmiths to find out. With poet Dzifa Benson,…
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Past Event: Migration Stories
Can home be translated? Three poets take us over the bridge.
Wed 23 Jan 2013
6:30pmFree Word Hall
What happens to our stories when we take them abroad? A poet arriving in a new country will have to express his or her past in new words – whether for the purposes of seeking asylum, or to integrate into a new society. Can an old story be dressed in new clothes? Can new stories be taken home again? Looking…