This week, our Editors-at-Large bring us around the world for updates on literary workshops, readings, and conferences! From a workshop dedicated to Kapampangan literature in the Philippines, to the thriving Mahala Bookstore in Bulgaria, to ALTA’s online Write the World panels, read on to learn more!
Alton Melvar M Dapanas, Editor-at-Large, Reporting from the Philippines
Tomorrow, May 18, marks the deadline of the call for workshop participants for Pamiyabe, the regional creative writing workshop for young writers who hail from the northern Philippine region of Central Luzon. Across Central Luzon and Metro Manila, the Kapampangan language (also alternatively named Pampangan, Pampango, and Pampagueno) is the native tongue to over 3.2 million Filipinos.
Now in its 21st year, the Pamiyabe writing workshop is aimed at contributing towards the flourishing of Kapampangan literature and organised by The Angelite, the official student publication of Holy Angel University in Angeles City, Pampanga. This year’s theme is “Pamaglugug queng regalu ning milabasan, pamagkaul queng progreso ning kasalungsungan” (Nurturing the gift of the past, embracing the progress of the present).
Workshop applicants may submit manuscripts across genres and languages: short story in English, maikling kwento in Filipino, or makuyad a kwentu in Kapampangan; poems in English or tula in Filipino and Kapampangan; personal essay in English, personal na sanaysay in Filipino, or personal a sanese in Kapampangan; flash fiction in English or dagli in Filipino and Kapampangan; and scripts for short film in (or written in a combination of) the mentioned languages.
Applications are open to budding writers from Central Luzon region or those who have Kapampangan ethnolinguistic lineage.
In the past, the Pamiyabe writing workshop was supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Award-winning writers such as Nerisa del Carmen Guevarra, Jerry Gracio, Erlita Mendoza, Ralph Semino Galan, Eros Atalia, Romulo Baquiran Jr., Jun Cruz Reyes, Mario Lagrimas Mendez Jr., and Gelacio Guillermo have all served as workshop panelists.
Andriana Hamas, Editor-at-Large, Reporting from Bulgaria
At a time when public libraries around the world are facing dramatic budget cuts and the future of independent bookstores remains precarious, the Bulgarian-based Mahala Bookstore appears to be thriving, to the relief of the local bookish community. Not only does it offer a unique selection of lesser-known titles, but it also prides itself on the variety of cultural events taking place between its walls.
For instance, a couple of weeks ago, the bookstore hosted Angela Rodel, who received the International Booker Prize 2023 for her translation of Georgi Gospodinov’s Time Shelter. The conversation with Rodel, moderated by Graham Griffith, a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Democracy and a Fulbright scholar, revolved around her latest project—the rendering into English of Vera Mutafchieva’s The Case of Cem (Sandorf Passage, 2024), which was recently featured in review on the Asymptote Blog. Rodel spoke of the importance of the book, emphasizing its different layers. She mentioned that, at least for her, the historical novel could be interpreted as both a metaphor and a critique of the Cold War, despite it being set against the backdrop of the Ottoman Empire. She even went on to draw parallels between the text and the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
For his part, Griffith explained the concept of the so-called “fast food” and “slow food” translation, with the former concerning basic inquiries such as double-checking what’s written in a foreign-language menu or map, and the latter being all about the translator’s responsibility to go beyond the words themselves and convey the overall meaning. At this point, Rodel touched upon the seemingly ubiquitous AI topic, saying that “this [the need for a “slow food” translation] will save us, human translators,” clarifying that “AI translates words and not emotions, human experiences, or atmosphere.”
Last but not least, she paid special attention to the many years she has spent in Bulgaria, immersed in the local culture and surrounded by readers of the original language—a circumstance which undoubtedly helps her recreate the texts she is translating as convincingly as possible for English-speaking audiences.
Bella Creel, Blog Editor, Reporting for the United States
This Tuesday, May 21, the American Literary Translator’s Association (ALTA) will hold its second annual virtual conference for translators around the globe! Dubbed “Write the World: A Day of Translation,” the conference will feature four panels covering all things translation, from writing the initial translation to pitching and getting published. The conference is USD15 to attend, and ALTA members will receive 20% off their admission.
The day will start with the panel, “A Palette of Languages: Translating into or from Non-Native Tongues,” moderated by scholar and translator Barbara Ofosu-Somuah. Panelists Isabella Corletto, Nguyễn An Lý, and Sonakshi Srivastava will discuss their experiences translating into and from a non-native language, challenging the assumption that a “good” translation relies on native fluency in the target language. From their personal journeys in translation to the role of translators more broadly, this panel is sure to bring fascinating insights into our community and the future of translation.
Moderators Nancy Naomi Carlson and Erin L. Cox will delve into the nitty-gritty aspects of translation—all things pitching, publishing, and marketing in the panels “What I Wish I’d Known” and “What Publishers Want” with editor Katie Freeman, publisher Chad W. Post, editor and publisher Michel Moushabeck, editor Laura K. Fish, and executive editor for Penguin Classics John Siciliano. Finally, in the panel “AI Translation: Fears, Opportunities, and the Future,” vice president of ALTA and literary translator Chenxin Jiang will moderate a discussion with computer scientist Timothy B. Lee on one of the most pressing issues in the modern translation world: AI and its simultaneous threats and boons.
While the panels start at 7:00 a.m. PST, recordings with live-captioning will later be sent to those who bought tickets. So for late sleepers and those who live on the other side of the globe (like me!), there’s still a chance to tune in to these exciting conversations on literary translation across the world.
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