May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 18 Picture books anyone? I confess, I don’t remember reading many picture books in my childhood. I recall keeping a prized collection of The Adventures of Tintin and The Adventures of Asterix (eventually given away), but not many other kinds of stories told in pictures. Having missed out of … Continue reading Selected Japanese Picture Books — by Andrew Wong
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 17 I would argue that any literature, translated or not, is part of the international trove of human cultural production. But it is true that those of us who can’t read works in the original have to rely on translation to hear otherwise inaccessible literary voices. It … Continue reading Melek Ortabasi on Japanese Literature as World Literature
Three Percent announced the shortlists for 2018’s Best Translated Book Awards this week, officially revealing all finalists in poetry and fiction categories. Since its inception in 2008, the BTBA has aimed to showcase “a blend of contemporary writers and modern classics, of writers from cultures around the world”, and this year is no exception. The … Continue reading Publisher Spotlight: Ugly Duckling Presse
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 16 I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been pitched a literary translation with the line: “The author is a best-seller in Japan.” If you know anything about Americans, you know that that argument is a non-starter. We Americans don’t really care about accomplishments beyond … Continue reading The Good Fortune to Publish Translations — Stone Bridge Publisher Peter Goodman
1962 is represented in The Society of Authors #TA60 series of classic translations by Jorge Luis Borges, whose surreal prose is often seen as having opened the door to magical realism. The influential Argentine writer was largely unknown in the English-speaking world until he was awarded the prestigious Prix International jointly with Samuel Beckett. The … Continue reading Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Labyrinths (1962)
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 15 Editor's note: Fred Schodt is best known for his work popularizing manga and anime outside of Japan. But he has also spent much of his career shedding light on little known aspects of Japanese popular culture and history: for instance, the story of Native American adventurer Ranald … Continue reading The Four Immigrants Manga — Frederik L. Schodt
Oskar Matzerath, the diminutive anti-hero of Günter Grass' THE TIN DRUM, was unleashed upon the English-speaking world in 1961. This first translation from the German was by Ralph Manheim. Weird, sweeping, brilliant, it’s frequently nominated as one of the great 20th century novels. Manheim’s translation contributed to the book’s huge international success, but from the … Continue reading Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: The Tin Drum (1961)
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 14 Editor's note: When I approached Canadian poet/translator Sally Ito about acting as translator for Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko, she and her aunt Michiko Tsuboi, her co-translator, had already translated at least a dozen of Misuzu's poems on their own. The … Continue reading The Compassionate Imagination – Sally Ito on Translating Misuzu Kaneko
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 13 Editor's note: Today begins the second installment of Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong's current favorites in Japanese translated fiction. It's interesting though perhaps coincidental to note that five of Terry's nine recommendations were written by women, and seven of the nine were translated by women. I point … Continue reading Anglophoned Fiction Favorites — by Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong, part 2
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 12 My two unfinished almost-ABD*-PhDs still makes my mother cringe. I know, I know: even in middle age, my tiger mother looms, not to mention I still have occasional nightmares about missing seminar with my beloved, last advisor. His passing remains my excuse for academic desertion, but … Continue reading Anglophoned Fiction Favorites — by Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong, part 1
