In colloquial terms we say possession is nine tenths of the law — well the other tenth is reparations.
What we hide and what we try to obfuscate, what we avoid, the ways in which we deceive others and deceive ourselves — all this is so much a part of who we are.
Translation Questionnaire: Michael Emmerich
When we translate, if only for a time, we breathe that special air. And that air is addictive.
Translation Questionnaire: Joshua Daniel Edwin
When asked if his Spanish was good enough to translate Gabriel García Márquez, Gregory Rabassa said that the real question should be: Is my English good enough?
What I’ve done is made up a language that I write in. It’s a kind of patois of working class speech, poet speech, intellectual patter, and whatever sticks. It’s a swift first-thought, best-thought language.
When I finish a project that I was completely invested in, I’m pretty emptied out. It’s kind of like post-coital melancholy.
Translation Questionnaire: Danuta Borchardt
I derive particular satisfaction from delving, in language, into my native Polish core. Having been an exile of many years, this has a particular relevance and poignancy.
I actually think this is a highly existential book. For example, I think the ending of the Kardashians section is completely a meditation on death.
In our contemporary, very American idea of nonfiction, there cannot be much permission for a heightened or slippery narrator. And I’m so interested in slipperiness!
Roundtable: Julia Fierro & Edan Lepucki
Learning how to talk about a novel when it’s not done without killing it is a real skill.