TWO VOICES: Counterfeits Release Reading, with Luc Sante, Patrick Philips, Alyson Waters, Adam Giannelli, Alex Zucker, and Magdaléna Platzová

On November 9, 2011, the Center for the Art of Translation celebrated the release of Counterfeits, its 18th annual anthology of world literature, with a star-studded event in New York City. You can listen to the audio from that event right here.

The event occurred at the wonderful McNally-Jackson independent bookstore and was co-hosted by the largest translation-only events series in New York City, The Bridge. Luc Sante, who co-edited Counterfeits with poet Rosanna Warren, MC'd the event, getting the evening started off with some introductory remarks about the importance of translation.

From there, it was on to the readers, who, in addition to reading from the authors they translated, also offered contextual information and insight into their work:

• Patrick Philips, reading his work with Henrik Nordbrandt, one of the leading Danish poems of his generation since the 1970s
• Alyson Waters, reading her work with Albert Cossery, the famous French-Egyptian author renowned for his highly ironic, acerbic wit and baroque style
• Adam Giannelli, reading his work with the Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik, a Guggenheim and Fullbright fellow frequently compared to Sylvia Plath
• Alex Zucker, with special guest author Magdaléna Platzová (reading from her work in Czech), reading from the short story "Alphonsine" by Platzová, an acclaimed Czech writer whose criticism is published widely