AWP 2025 Panel: “But It Wasn’t Written in English”—Translated Literature in the Creative Writing Classroom
12:10-1:45 pm PT
Room 501ABC | Level Two | Los Angeles Convention Center
Panel: “But It Wasn’t Written In English”—Translated Literature in the Creative Writing Classroom
Saturday, March 29 | 12:10-1:45 pm
What happens when creative writing syllabi include texts not originally written in English? What new dimensions does translated literature add to conversations about writing process, craft, language, and revision? This panel’s writer-teachers discuss the meaningful insights that emerge when questions about translation are invited to the college creative writing classroom. They address concerns about teaching non-English texts, share advice, and reflect on what translation brings to their writing and teaching.
Moderator: Bonnie Chau
Panelists: Dylan Bassett, May-lee Chai, Jennifer Tseng
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Bonnie Chau is a writer and translator from Southern California. Her short story collection All Roads Lead to Blood was a finalist for a 2019 CLMP Firecracker Award, and her writing has appeared in Flaunt, Two Lines, Fence, Bennington Review, Black Sun Lit, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in fiction and literary translation, and has received fellowships from Kundiman, Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony, Black Mountain Institute, and the Stadler Center. She edits at Public Books, the Evergreen Review, and 4Columns; teaches creative writing and translation; and serves on the boards of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) and Art Farm Nebraska.
Dylan Bassett’s first novel is Gad’s Book (2023). He is a translator of Russian and Spanish and teaches literature at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
May-lee Chai (翟梅利) is an educator, translator, and award-winning author of 11 books, including the short story collections, Tomorrow in Shanghai and Other Stories, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and Useful Phrases for Immigrants, winner of an American Book Award. She is a board member of the National Book Critics Circle and a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University.
Jennifer Tseng’s new book, Thanks for Letting Us Know You Are Alive, poems made with her late father’s English letters, won the Juniper Prize for Poetry. She’s currently an associate professor of literature and creative writing at University of California, Santa Cruz.