Saturday, May 30, 3–6pm (1-day seminar) / In-Person at the UDP studio

“Say wild caged animal longing to be free translation.” — Sawako Nakayasu, Say Translation Is Art (Ugly Duckling Presse)

“A cage went in search of a bird.” — Franz Kafka (from The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka, edited by Reiner Stach, trans. by Shelley Frisch from the German (Princeton University Press)

Can translation be played as the transformation of constraints—between languages, disciplines, and modes? This is an all-levels, interdisciplinary translation workshop for anyone curious about literary translation or growing their practice as a literary translator.

Each participant will bring in a translation to workshop with the group (1 page of prose, poetry, or other form).

During the workshop, we will read a selection of translation texts to explore the tension between freedom and constraint in the task of the translator to develop a framework for creating and revising translations together. Each participant will create at least two different revisions in the workshop.

New translators, non-translators, BIPOC and Queer translators welcome!