Announcing the 2009–2010 Season of Events

June 8

LIT&LUNCH: From a Suppressed Language to International Renown: Bernardo Atxaga on Bernardo Atxaga
  • Bernardo Atxaga on Bernardo Atxaga
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at 111 Minna Gallery
  • 111 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105 (Minna @ 2nd)
  • Tuesday, June 8, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
  • FREE
Basque author Bernardo Atxaga began writing in the 1970s when Spain was under the rule of the dictator Francisco Franco. The language he wrote in, Euskera, was forbidden by the Spanish government. Now widely recognized as the literary standard bearer of Basque culture, Atxaga has become, according to The Guardian, "Basque's strongest literary voice." He talks about his early experiences with writing in a suppressed language, as well as his position as an author between Spanish and Basque cultures, one that often must confront the Basque separatist movement.

May 20

Poet Gary Snyder at the Asian Art Museum
  • Gary Snyder Reading his Poetry
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at the Asian Art Museum
  • 200 Larkin St., San Francisco, CA
  • Thursday, May 20, time TBD
Join the Center for a rare opportunity to hear lauded poet Gary Snyder read his poetry in person! Snyder's amazing poetry and the beautiful Asian Art Museum will make this an unforgettable event!

May 11

LIT&LUNCH: Saving Immigrant Poetry from the Bulldozers: Marlon Hom on Angel Island Detention Poems
  • Marlon Hom on Angel Island Detention Poems
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at 111 Minna Gallery
  • 111 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105 (Minna @ 2nd)
  • Tuesday, May 11, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
  • FREE
In the early 20th century, thousands of Chinese immigrants to the United States were detained on Angel Island. Many of them carved poetry into the wooden walls of the detention center, and the poetry remained until the 1970s when the center was scheduled for demolition. Marlon Hom talks about these unique glimpses into the heart of the immigrant experience and how they were ultimately saved so that future generations of Americans would be able to see, firsthand, this chapter of our past.

April 13

LIT&LUNCH: Israel's Beautiful, Tormented Poet: Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld on Dahlia Ravikovitch
  • Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld on Dahlia Ravikovitch
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at 111 Minna Gallery
  • 111 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105 (Minna @ 2nd)
  • Tuesday, April 13, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
  • FREE
Dahlia Ravikovich was more than one of Israel's most celebrated poets: she was also an outspoken activist who once aided Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish when he was under house arrest. Translators Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld talk about this enigmatic figure, the difficulties of translating from Hebrew, and the challenges that arise when two translators work together on a single book. They also discuss the unique pleasures of dual translation: as Bloch has said, "Working with Chana Kronfeld has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life."

March 31

Peter Bush reading from his new translation of La Celestina
  • Peter Bush on La Celestina
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation
  • Mechanics' Institute Library Meeting Room, 4th Floor, 57 Post Street
  • Wednesday, March 31, drinks @ 6:00pm, event starts @ 6:30
  • FREE
Renowned as a bridge between the end of medieval Spanish literature and its rebirth in a literary renaissance led by Don Quixote, La Celestina is an immortal tale that has been translated time and time again. Here Peter Bush reads from his new, fresh translation in conjunction with its publication as a Penguin Classic.

March 20

Translation Workshop: Marian Schwartz in conjunction with the Center and the Northern California Translators Association
  • Award-winning translator Marian Schwartz leading a translation workshop
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation and the Northern California Translators Association
  • Mechanics' Institute Library Meeting Room, 4th Floor
  • Saturday, March 20, 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm
  • Registration and price schedule here
Join lauded translator Marian Schwartz, the Center, and the Northern California Translators Association for a unique opportunity to improve your translation skills in this three-hour workshop!

March 9

LIT&LUNCH: The Translator as Overachiever: (A Nobel Winner and a Runaway Bestseller): Alison Anderson on JMG Le Clézio, Muriel Barbery, and more
  • Alison Anderson on JMG Le Clézio, Muriel Barbery, and more
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at 111 Minna Gallery
  • 111 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105 (Minna @ 2nd)
  • Tuesday, March 10, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
  • FREE
Literary translation is often a job with little renown and few financial rewards, but translator Alison Anderson managed to strike it big twice in 2008: the French author JMG Le Clézio, whose novels Anderson has translated, received the Nobel Prize for literature, and Muriel Barbery's novel Elegance of the Hedgehog became a national bestseller. Anderson talks about the pleasures and the pains of becoming a hot commodity and the books behind these literary celebrities.

February 9

LIT&LUNCH: Rediscovering a Forgotten Genius: Susan Bernofsky on Robert Walser

Susan Bernofsky

  • Susan Bernofsky reading and discussing works by Robert Walser
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at 111 Minna Gallery
  • 111 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105 (Minna @ 2nd)
  • Tuesday, February 9, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
  • FREE
Although Kafka revered him and he is widely celebrated in Europe, Robert Walser only recently began attracting readers in the United States. After being featured in publications like The New Yorker over the past few years, this literary master has developed a devoted following among American readers. Translator Susan Bernofsky talks about what it was like to be a leader of our Walser renaissance, as well as the ins and outs of translating Walser's singular prose.

Come to this Lit&Lunch event for your chance to find out what it's like to rediscover a lost genius. A noted translator of internationally acclaimed authors like Yoko Tawada and Hermann Hesse, Bernofsky is an ideal guide to the unique writing and stirring thoughts of an author now being hailed as a literary master. Hear her talk about Walser's incredible first novel, The Tanners, which has just been published in her English translation. And find out about Walser's renowned "microscripts," which were written in such tiny handwriting that only a handful of specialists can read them today!

January 19

David Huerta, Mark Schafer, and Poetry Inside Out students reading at City Lights
  • Noted Mexican poet David Huerta, translator Mark Schafer, and Poetry Inside Out students
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at City Lights Books
  • 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, CA
  • Tuesday, January 19, 2009, 7:00 pm
  • FREE

Noted Mexican poet David Huerta reads from his groundbreaking collection, Before Saying Any of the Great Words: Selected Poems of David Huerta at City Lights Books. Huerta, who has been a central figure in two of the most influential poetic movements in 20th-century Latin American literature, is widely recognized as one of Mexico's greatest living poets. He's joined by noted translator Mark Schafer, recipient of numerous grants and awards, including two translation fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. The event also features a special appearance by students from the Center for the Art of Translation's Poetry Inside Out program. Students from all over the Bay Area will be reading translations of Huerta's poetry, which they made as part of the innovative PIO curriculum.

December 13

Khet Mar reading in conjunction with the Asian Art Museum
  • Burmese writer Khet Mar reading and discussing her literature
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation in conjunction with the Asian Art museum
  • 200 Larkin St., San Francisco, CA
  • Sunday, December 13, 2009, 2:00pm
  • FREE with Museum admission
Noted Burmese author and humanitarian Khet Mar reads from her fiction in conjunction with the Asian Art Museum's exhibit, "Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam and Burma." Mar, who spent time imprisoned by the Burmese government for supporting women's rights, uses fiction to delve deeply into the political turmoil in her homeland. Her writing powerfully reveals the struggles and triumphs experienced every day by Burmese citizens. Be sure to join the Center and the Asian Art Museum for this unique opportunity to hear her read her work.

November 10

LIT&LUNCH: Re-translating a Masterpiece: Breon Mitchell on Günter Grass

Breon Mitchell

  • Breon Mitchell reading and discussing The Tin Drum by Günter Grass
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at 111 Minna Gallery
  • 111 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105 (Minna @ 2nd)
  • Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
  • FREE
What's it like to retranslate a classic work of literature, especially when you revere the original translation? Why even do a second translation of a classic work? These are questions lauded translator Breon Mitchell faced when he was asked to do the re-translation of GŸnter Grass's Cold War classic The Tin Drum. He shares the secrets of how and why he did it, as well as the details of Grass's unique week-long translatorsÕ party in Danzig, where the book is primarily set.

November 9

Two Lines Book Release Party with special guest Breon Mitchell

Two Lines

  • Book release party with food, wine, and translators reading from Wherever I Lie Is Your Bed
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at LIMN Gallery
  • 292 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107
  • Monday, November 9, 2009, 6:00 pm
  • $10 Suggested Donation
Join the Center for the Art of Translation for its book release party to celebrate the publication of its anthology of literature in translation, Wherever I Lie Is Your Bed. Attendees can expect good food, good wine, and lots of opportunities to talk about literature with professional writers and passionate readers. The event is headlined by a reading from Breon Mitchell, whose re-translation of Günter Grass's The Tin Drum has just been published, and will include other readings of great literature, including Haitian poetry, Sudanese fiction, and a special tribute to the late Danish poet Inger Christensen. It all takes place in the beautiful LIMN Gallery, currently exhibiting a show of contemporary Chinese photography.

October 7

Natasha Wimmer in Conversation with Daniel Alarcón

Natasha Wimmer

  • Natasha Wimmer talking about Roberto Bolaño and Latin American literature with noted local writer Daniel Alarcón
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at Lone Palm
  • 3394 22nd St., San Francisco, CA 94110 (22nd @ Guerrero)
  • Wednesday, October 7, 2009—doors open 6:00 pm, event starts 6:30 pm
  • Suggested donation $7
Grab a drink and listen to two people who know Latin America inside-out talk about Roberto Bolaño's colorful life and his influence on Latin American writers. Natasha Wimmer, the award-winning translator of Bolaño's blockbuster novels 2666 and The Savage Detectives, is joined by local literary celebrity Daniel Alarcón, named one of the top young American novelists by Granta.

October 6

LIT&LUNCH: Translating a Latin American Superstar

2666 by Roberto Bolano

  • Natasha Wimmer reading and discussing Roberto Bolaño
  • Presented by the Center for the Art of Translation at 111 Minna Gallery
  • 111 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105 (Minna @ 2nd)
  • Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
  • FREE
Bring a lunch and join us for the first event of our 2009-10 LIT&LUNCH season! Natasha Wimmer became a familiar name in the world of literature when she translated Roberto Bolaño's two biggest novels, The Savage Detectives and 2666. Both books have enjoyed the kind of strong sales and widespread popularity that most works-in-translation can only dream of, with 2666 picking up the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Novel of 2008 (the first translation in 7 years to do so).

In this first event of our 2009-2010 season, Natasha Wimmer will read and discuss her translations of an author many are calling the biggest superstar to come out of Latin America since Gabriel García Márquez. She'll also read never-before-published excerpts from Bolaño works she is currently translating for New Directions.

Writing in the New York Review of Books, Francisco Goldman called him "the great Bolaño" and praised 2666 as an "often shockingly raunchy and violent tour de force (though the phrase seems hardly adequate to describe the novel's narrative velocity, polyphonic range, inventiveness, and bravery)." Hear Wimmer read from her translation of this book, discuss the challenges of bringing this unique author into English, and explain what makes Bolaño so great.

Past events:

Come back soon for information about future readings and events...



REX at the REX: wine reception and conversation with José Manuel Prieto and Esther Allen
Wednesday, June 10, 6:00–8:00 p.m.

Prieto and Allen will appear at Hotel Rex on June 10 for wine and hors d'oeuvres and readings from Prieto's latest novel Rex.
hotelrex

Hotel Rex, 562 Sutter St. (between Mason and Powell)


hotelrexCost: $15 includes wine and hors d'oeuvres. Seating is limited.
Tickets available at the door.

Directions: Park at the Sutter-Stockton Garage (444 Stockton St.) or walk 5 blocks northwest from Powell BART.

Released last month in English translation by Allen, Rex is the final volume in a trilogy of Prieto's novels that includes the acclaimed Nocturnal Butterflies of the Russian Empire. It is a sophisticated literary game rife with allusions to Proust and Borges, set in a world of wealthy Russian expats and mafiosos in western Europe. The Los Angeles Times calls Rex "the most glittering example of literary play to have emerged in recent memory."

AllenAn important voice in Spanish-language literature, Prieto is also a major translator of Russian literature into Spanish, including works by Vladimir Nabokov and Joseph Brodsky. He is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. Esther Allen is a renowned translator of Spanish-language authors José Martí, Jorge Luis Borges, and Alma Guillermoprieto, among others. She is a prominent advocate for world literature and translation.


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Silver Katherine Silver: Fiction on the Edge from Latin America
Tuesday, October 7, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
111 Minna Gallery, 2nd St. and Minna St., San Francisco

Join us for the first reading of our 2008-2009 season, co-sponsored by LitQuake. Katherine Silver reads and discusses her NEA award-winning translation of Senselessness, Salvadoran writer Horacio Castellanos Moya's novel in which a boozing, sex-obsessed writer finds himself employed by the Catholic Church to proofread a 1,100 page report on the army's massacre and torture of thousands of indigenous villagers a decade earlier, including the testimonies of the survivors.

About Senselessness, Russell Banks has written, "This is a brilliantly crafted moral fable, as if Kafka had gone to Latin America for his source materials. I've not read anything quite like it. Clearly, Castellanos Moya is a major writer who deserves a wide audience in the U.S."

Click here for interviews with Katherine Silver and a profile of Horacio Castellanos Moya.

LitQuake


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Mort Valzhyna Mort: Belarusian Sensation Reads Her Electrifying Poems
Tuesday, November 11, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
111 Minna Gallery, 2nd St. and Minna St., San Francisco

Belarusian sensation Valzhyna Mort reads from the electrifying poems of Factory of Tears, her debut in English out from Copper Canyon Press in 2008, co-translated by Pulitzer Prize winner Franz Wright. Mort is known throughout Europe for her remarkable reading performances and writes in her native Belarusian at a time when efforts are being made to reestablish the traditional language. At once political and erotic, Mort's poems dazzle with wit and invention.


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Tawada Yoko Tawada: At Home Between Cultures (Germany-Japan)
Tuesday, February 10, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
111 Minna Gallery, 2nd St. and Minna St., San Francisco

Novelist and poet Yoko Tawada reads from her work and discusses the challenges and pleasures of writing in both Japanese and German. Born in Tokyo, Tawada has been a long-time resident of Germany. She received the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1993 for The Bridegroom Was a Dog. In 1996, she won the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize, a German award granted to foreign writers for their contribution to German culture. Where Europe Begins, a collection of stories written in both Japanese and German and translated by Yumi Selden and Susan Bernofsky, was selected by Marjorie Perloff as a 2005 TLS Book of the Year.


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Joudah Fady Joudah: Yale Younger Poet on Palestinian Author Mahmoud Darwish
Tuesday, March 10, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
111 Minna Gallery, 2nd St. and Minna St., San Francisco

2007 Yale Younger Poet Fady Joudah reads from his stunning debut collection, The Earth in the Attic, and recent translations of Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish. Joudah is the winner of the 2008 Saif Ghobash – Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation for The Butterfly's Burden, his translation of Darwish published by Copper Canyon Press. In addition to his work as a poet and translator, Joudah works as a physician in Houston and as a field member of Doctors Without Borders.

Special thanks to the ARAB CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTER for co-sponsoring this event.


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Hass Robert Hass: The Poet as Translator
Tuesday, April 14, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
111 Minna Gallery, 2nd St. and Minna St., San Francisco

Join us for a special event as Robert Hass reads and discusses his world-renowned translations. A long-time translator of Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz, Hass has also translated The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa and edited Selected Poems: 1954-1986 by Tomas Tranströmer. An activist on behalf of poetry, literacy, and the environment, Hass was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 1995-1997. He is the founder of River of Words, which promotes environmental and arts education in affiliation with the Library of Congress Center for the Book. His most recent collection of poems, Time and Materials, received the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for 2007.


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Emmerich Karen Emmerich: Acclaimed New Talent on Contemporary Greek Writing
Tuesday, May 12, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
111 Minna Gallery, 2nd St. and Minna St., San Francisco

National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Karen Emmerich reads her translations spanning the history of 20th-century Greek literature including the highly praised new collection of short stories by Amanda Michalopoulou.


Poetry Translation workshop with Karen Emmerich:
Impossible Things?: Poetry in Translation
Wednesday, May 13, 6:00-8:00 pm
Mechanics' Institute Library Meeting Room, 4th Floor 57 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

Lit&Lunch speaker and award-winning Greek translator Karen Emmerich will lead a hands-on workshop in the art of literary translation, designed both for those new to the field and for those more experienced with the undertaking. This session will focus on issues common to the translation of poetry into English; translators and students of translation working from any language or languages are welcome. Emmerich will discuss the particular problems raised by the translation of poetry and discuss procedures and methods. Participants are invited to bring up to five pages of translations (with originals) for written comments from the instructor. Co-sponsored by the Center and the Northern California Translators Association.

Cost: $40 NCTA members/$70 non-members
Register at NCTA website


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L&L José Manual Prieto & Esther Allen Lit&Lunch end-of-season event
Tuesday, June 9, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
111 Minna Gallery, 2nd St. and Minna St., San Francisco

Celebrate our final reading of the 2008-2009 season! Cuban novelist José Manual Prieto and his translator Esther Allen will read from Prieto's latest book, Rex. Released last month by Grove Press, Rex is a sophisticated literary game rife with allusions to Proust and Borges, set in a world of wealthy Russian expats and mafiosos in western Europe.


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Mexican Fiction Book launch party for BEST OF CONTEMPORARY MEXICAN FICTION
Wednesday, May 20, 6:00 p.m.
Chronicle Books lobby, 680 Second St. (between Brannan & Townsend), San Francisco

$7 suggested donation includes wine and hors' d'oeuvres

Join the Center for the Art of Translation and the Consulate General of Mexico to celebrate the release of BEST OF CONTEMPORARY MEXICAN FICTION, recently published by Dalkey Archive Press. Edited by Álvaro Uribe, with translations edited by Olivia Sears, the bilingual anthology collects short stories by sixteen of Mexico's best fiction writers born after 1945 and offers a glimpse of the rich tapestry of Mexican fiction, from small-town dramas to tales of urban savagery. The May 20 event will feature editor Álvaro Uribe as well as Cristina Rivera-Garza, one of Mexico's finest fiction writers. Additional readings will include stories by Daniel Sada, Ana García Bergua, Jorge F. Hernández, Héctor Manjarrez, and Francisco Hinojosa, read by translators Elizabeth Bell, Tom Christensen, Barbara Paschke, Anita Sagástegui, and Katherine Silver, winner of the 2009 Northern California Book Award for Translation.


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Link to past events here.

 

Check back for information about future readings and events...

 
 
 
last update: June 10, 2009