"Found in Translation" Gdańsk Meetings of Literary Translators — English edition
Once again the most renowned writers, translators and literary critics, as well as their
readers, will have the opportunity to discuss literature and literary translation — this time
into and from English — in the course of "Found in Translation" Gdańsk Meetings of Literary
Translators. The Meetings will take place on 9–11 April, 2015 in Gdańsk (venues include the
Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, City Culture Institute and the University of Gdańsk). This
year's Festival will also see the first award ceremony for the Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński
Translation Work Award of the President of Gdańsk
This relatively new and extraordinary literary festival — dedicated mainly to the art of
translation — presents the opportunity to consider literature from a different angle. The
meetings are a starting point for disputes about the world and the dynamics of its changes.
Translation is on the one hand an intimate confrontation with the text and on the other — a
way to build relationships between people, cultures and art genres.
The second edition of Gdańsk Meetings of Literary Translators will focus on the translation
of the English–language literature. Invited by the City Culture Institute are renowned
translators actively working for the promotion of translation: Magda Haydel, Urszula
Kropiwiec i Justyna Czechowska. Owing to their different experiences, interests and
specializations, they have managed to create a concept that refers to the phenomenon of
literary translation in interesting and varied ways. The program of the Festival includes open
discussions, lectures, workshops and artistic events, held at Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre,
City Culture Institute and the University of Gdańsk.
Magda Heydel on the essence of translating from English and the challenge of preparing
the programme of the Meetings:
In this year's edition, the central place is occupied by English literature: it is a global cultural
phenomenon, difficult to grasp in its wealth; a language area where very distant cultures
meet, collide and coexist with each other. We will answer the question of how to understand
them, differentiate between them in translation, and do them justice. She adds that aside
from the matters of literature, the Meetings will also address the idea of multiculturalism,
politics, sociology, anthropology, while the discussion on translating Polish literature into
English will also have its separate place during the Festival.
Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre was chosen as one of the festival venues for a good reason.
The inauguration of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre inspired and somehow obliged us to
introduce the issues of theatre translation to the Meetings programme, says Urszula
Kropiwiec. We will look at Shakespeare translations into Polish, especially the recent ones.
Because contemporary English drama is strongly present on Polish stages, we will not
confine ourselves to the classics. Together with the translators, directors, playwrights and
actors, we will consider what is specific for the theatre translation, why new translations of
classics are still needed and contemporary dramas are often translated anew for the
subsequent performances; we will try to answer the question where the phenomenon of
actors–translators came from. Another fascinating translational issue that we are going to
consider is theatrical adaptations of literary works.
This part of "Found in Translation" will include workshops with stage managers, actors and
playwrights.
The workshops are a very important part of the Meetings.
We are also planning to organise workshops with reviewers, journalists and literary critics
on how to write about translated books — it is an extremely important topic for the future
of literary translation in Poland, says Justyna Czechowska.
We are also preparing several months–spanning translation workshops as well as classes for
our youngest participants.
In addition, during the Meetings, the first winner of the newly–established Tadeusz BoyŻeleński Translation Work Award of the President of Gdańsk will be announced.
The award ceremony will be an integral part of the festival and an occasion to invite the
outstanding translators form the group of finalists, says Aleksandra Szymańska, Head of the
City Culture Institute. Recently there was a lot of discussions about the role of literary
awards and their contribution to promotion of readership and book sales; however, there is
no doubt that these awards help to shape opinions and critique, especially when they are
awarded by renowned juries — as it is in this case.
-More information on the Meetings can be found at www.odnalezionewtlumaczeniu.pl and
on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/odnalezionewtlumaczeniu.
Information about the Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński Translation Work Award of the President of
Gdańsk (applications open until 30 September, 2014):
http://odnalezionewtlumaczeniu.pl/nagroda-dla-tlumacza/
Authors of the "Found in Translation" Gdańsk Meetings of Literary Translators 2015
programme
Magda Heydel (born 1969) —lectures on translation theory and practice at the Polish
Language Department and Literature of the Jagiellonian University; the director of
Postgraduate Studies for Literary Translators and the chief editor of the translation
magazine “Przekładaniec”. Her newest publications are Gorliwość tłumacza. Przekład
poetycki w dziele Czesława Miłosza and Polska myśl przekładoznawcza anthology (with
P. Bukowski). Translator of English literature, including Virginia Woolf, Joseph Conrad, Derek
Walcott and Seamus Heaney. Winner of the Literatura na Świecie prize for prose
translations.
Urszula Kropiwiec (born 1965) — Culture Manager and translator from Spanish. President
of the Pro Helvetica Swiss Foundation for Culture, Central and Eastern Europe division
(1999–2014). Published translations include the autobiography of Reinaldo Arenas, Before
Night Falls, and two books of another Cuban dissident, Guillermo Cabrera Infante — She
Sang Boleros and Guilty of Dancing the ChaChaCha. She conducted workshops in literary
translation at Jagiellonian University in Cracow, where she has also co–organised "Między
oryginałem a przekładem" translation conferences, as well as co–edited a series of
publications under the same title.
Justyna Czechowska (born 1979) — literary scholar, cultural events coordinator, translator
from Swedish and Norwegian, author of articles, anthologies and interviews. Co–founder of
the Literary Research Foundation and the Association of Literary Translators. She worked as
a creative writing teacher and literary agent. Her translations are published both in Poland
and Scandinavia. One of them, Kristin Berget's Der ganze Weg, was nominated in the
second edition of the European Poet of Freedom competition. Together with Piotr Kieżun,
she holds literary debates in the Attic of Liberal Culture. She cooperates with the Danish
Cultural Institute (since 2009), and the Marginesy publishing house (since 2014).
History of the Meetings
The Meetings have a form of a festival — the events taking place in its course (disputes,
workshops, panel discussions, artistic actions) are open for a broad audience. The
programme of the first edition (25–27 April 2013) was built around the literature and
languages of Scandinavia. The debut of the festival was highly praised by the media and the
literary environment, as well as the ample audience, which proved that a festival like this is
important and in demand.
Among the guests that accepted our invitation in 2013 were the most renowned Polish and
Swedish writers and translators (including Adam Zagajewski, Anders Bodegard, Marek
Bieńczyk, Szczepan Twardoch, Stefan Ingvarsson, Joanna Bator, Jerzy Jarniewicz, Adam
Pomorski, Jacek Dehnel and many others). The guest of honour was the Swedish writer
Majgull Axelsson.
The Meetings, organized by City Culture Institute, are held every two years, alternating with
the European Poet of Freedom festival.
Organizer: City Culture Institute
Partners: Polish Association of Literary Translators, Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, University
of Gdańsk