Japanese-English literary translation masterclass
Tuesday 6th May 2014, 10am to 5pm
Free Word Centre, London
The British Centre for Literary Translation is delighted to offer a one-day masterclass on
Japanese-English literary translation, led by the distinguished translator, Antonia LloydJones. Participants will be asked to translate in advance two short texts by Japanese
writers Hiromi Kawakami and Yukiko Motoya. During the session, Antonia will lead
a discussion comparing the variant versions of the text, focusing on the different choices
that participants have made, and how the different versions read as English texts. We will
be joined by the writers at 3pm to talk about the stories and answer any questions.
Antonia Lloyd-Jones is a full-time translator of Polish literature, and twice winner of
the Found in Translation award. Her publications include fiction by Paweł Huelle, poetry
by Tadeusz Dąbrowski, reportage by Jacek Hugo-Bader, essays by Andrzej Szczeklik, a
biography by Joanna Olczak-Ronikier, and children’s literature by Janusz Korczak. She is
a mentor for the British Centre for Literary Translation’s Emerging Translator
Mentorship Programme.
Antonia will also talk about And Other Stories and their reading groups, which
recommend books for publication to the AOS editorial committee. We hope to set up a
Japanese reading group, to encourage AOS to publish contemporary writing from Japan.
We will be joined at 4pm by Yuka Igarashi, managing editor of Granta magazine, who
will talk about the translation and editing process in preparing the Granta Japan issue, as
well as answering general questions about translation and publishing. All participants will
be invited to the launch of Granta Japan at 7pm, also at the Free Word Centre.
Participants should have some experience of Japanese to English literary translation, and
will be asked to submit in advance their translation of the texts to be circulated, for
discussion during the masterclass. If you would like to attend, please send an email to
Sarah Bower at sarah@sarahbower.co.uk, outlining your literary translation experience
and explaining why you would like to attend. Please attach your CV.
Deadline for applications is Tuesday 22nd April 2014, when participants will be sent the
texts to translate, to be returned by Wednesday 30th April.