Articles by Rachel Morgenstern-Clarren

The Week in Translation

May 13, 2013

Lorca in New York: A Celebration: the largest-ever festival in North America celebrating the work of acclaimed Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. With more than two dozen events throughout Manhattan, it focuses on the brief but prolific period (1929-1930), during which Lorca came…...read more »

The Week in Translation

May 6, 2013

Mia Couto in Conversation with Anderson Tepper

May 3, 2013

what: Mia Couto the bestselling author of Sleepwalking Land and The Tuner of Silences, joins Vanity Fair‘s Anderson Tepper in conversation. Drinks and light refreshments will be served. when: Saturday, May 4, 7-9pm where: The Powerhouse Arena [DUMBO] RSVP: RSVP@powerHouseArena.com…...read more »

The Week in Translation

April 29, 2013

what: PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature when: April 29-May 5 where: NYC more info: http://ow.ly/kwLcr what: The Bridge Series: Turkish translators Erdağ Göknar and Aron Aji when: Thursday, May 2, 7pm where: McNally Jackson Books, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/ky1YK…...read more »

The Week in Translation

April 23, 2013

Translation Roundup

April 19, 2013

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to WWB contributor Fady Joudah, whose translation of Ghassan Zaqtan's Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems from Arabic was recently shortlisted for the $65,000 2013 International Griffin Poetry Prize! The winners will be announced…...read more »

The Week in Translation

April 15, 2013

The Week in Translation

April 8, 2013

what: New Poetry from Spain: Round Table Discussion featuring Marta López-Luaces, Gerardo Piña-Rosales, and Leonard Schwartz when: Thursday, April 11, 7pm where: Instituto Cervantes, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/jRnlr Lorca in New York: A Celebration: the…...read more »

The Week in Translation

April 1, 2013

GO what: Word for Word/Wort für Wort Book Launch and Reception: Fiction and Nonfiction readings by: Kevin Magruder and Ursula Kirchenmayer, Rachel Sur and Ellen Wesemüller, Michael Makowski and David Frühauf when: Monday, April 1, 7-9pm where: Deutsches Haus (420 W. 116th…...read more »

The Week in Translation

March 18, 2013

SUBMIT what: Powell River International Translators Conference seeks Abstracts (50 words max) for up to a 45-minute presentation when: September 12-15, 2013 where: Powell River, British Columbia, Canada submission deadline: April 2, 2013 more info: http://ow.ly/jaYL6 what: INVENTORY Nº4 (Princeton…...read more »

The Week in Translation

March 11, 2013

GO Readings what: Jerome Rothenberg and Heriberto Yepez when: Wednesday, March 13, 2014, 8pm where: St. Marks Poetry Project, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/iKQBl what: Anthony Madrid and Farnoosh Fathi when: Thursday, March 14, 2014, 5:10 pm where: UMMA Helmut Stern Auditorium, University…...read more »

The Week in Translation

March 4, 2013

GO Readings what: Cecilia Vicuña and Laura Elrick read at The Poetry Project when: Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 8pm where: St. Marks Church, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/ikmGE Conferences and Festivals what: StAnza: Scotland's International Poetry Festival when: March 6-10 where:…...read more »

Translation Roundup

February 21, 2013

READ Interviews, Articles, Reviews Just in time for our latest issue, PEN Atlas looks at the state of graphic novels around the world. How do you save a dying language? Linguist Geoffrey Khan is racing to save Aramaic by talking to its elderly Middle Eastern speakers, many of whom now live in Chicago's…...read more »

The Week in Translation

February 18, 2013

GO Readings what: Jack Kerouac's Bilingualism: A Panel Discussion when: Monday, February 18, 6pm where: Sulzberger Parlor, 3rd Floor, Barnard Hall, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/hPfix what: The Bridge Series: Stephen Snyder & Allison Markin Powell when: Thursday, February…...read more »

Translation Roundup

February 8, 2013

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to this year's Caldecott and Newberry Medal winners! Interviews, Articles, Reviews Check out the new, multi-media Untranslateable Words Database. Three Percent calls Naoki Inose and Hiroaki Sato's biography of infamous Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima, Persona,…...read more »

The Week in Translation

February 4, 2013

GO Events what: Mellon Visiting Artist Talk with Paul Muldoon when: Wednesday, February 6, 7pm where: Italian Academy/Casa Italiana, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/hp8s7 Workshops what: The Art of Literary Translation: A Workshop in Paris, with Alyson Waters when: June 23-July 19, 2013…...read more »

The Week in Translation

January 28, 2013

GO what: Fledge: A Tribute to Stacy Doris when: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 where: St. Marks Poetry Project, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/haBW8

Translation Roundup

January 24, 2013

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to Sharon Olds, this year's winner of the UK's TS Eliot Prize, for her poetry collection Stag's Leap! Check out the International Prize for Arabic Fiction shortlist, which includes several young novelists. The winner will be announced April 23 at…...read more »

The Week in Translation

January 21, 2013

GO what: The Bridge Series: WWB contributor Idra Novey and Johnny Lorenz in conversation with Barbara Epler on Clarice Lispector when: Wednesday, January 23, 7pm where: The Center for Fiction, New York more info: http://ow.ly/gZZSM what: Inspirations with Seamus Heaney and Simon Armitage when: Sunday,…...read more »

Translation Roundup

January 18, 2013

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to the five novelists on the Man Asian Literary Prize shortlist, including WWB contributor Musharraf Ali Farooqi. The winner will be announced March 14th! Interviews, Articles, Reviews "Why break a language? To wake it up," writes poet, translator, and WWB contributor…...read more »

The Week in Translation

January 14, 2013

GO what: Whit Griffin and Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi when: Monday, January 14, 8pm where: St. Marks Poetry Project, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/gNmpC what: Asymptote celebrates its 2nd Anniversary with Global Launch when: Tuesday, January 15-Thursday, January 25 where: Barcelona…...read more »

Translation Roundup

January 11, 2013

READ Interviews, Articles, Reviews In the latest Circumference podcast, Montana Ray speaks to Yusef Komunyakaa, Goutam Datta, and Subodh Sarkar about an anthology of African American poets, edited by Datta and translated into Bengali: Ami Amar Mritur Por Sadhinota Chai Na (I Do Not…...read more »

Just in Time for the Ball Drop…

December 31, 2012

Here are some of our favorite books in translation from 2012! Emma Garman My pick is Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua, trans. by Mitch Ginsburg, an engrossing story about chance, fate and identity. Told from the dual points of view of an upwardly mobile Israeli Arab lawyer, and a young Palestinian…...read more »

Translation Roundup

December 20, 2012

READ Honors and Awards Kurt Beals is the inaugural winner of the German Book Office Translation Prize. Congratulations! Check out the 2013 Longlist for the International Prize for Arabic Literature. Interviews, Articles, Reviews “Our old family wallpaper and curtains,” says poet, translator,…...read more »

The Week in Translation

December 17, 2012

SUBMIT what: The French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation are currently accepting submissions for the Annual Translation Prize—a $10,000 cash award for the best English translation of French in both fiction and non-fiction. submission deadline: January 15, 2013 more info: http://ow.ly/gadj1…...read more »

The Week in Translation

December 10, 2012

GO Readings what: Hassan Blasim reads from his latest collection of short stories, The Iraqi Christ, translated from Arabic by Jonathan Wright. when: December 10-12 where: Newcastle, Manchester, London more info: http://ow.ly/fXfx5 what: Translating Turkish Literature with Aron Aji when: Tuesday,…...read more »

Translation Roundup

December 7, 2012

READ Honors and Awards Words without Borders is honored to be a 2013 grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts! Congratulations to all of English PEN's Awards for Writing in Translation winners! Interviews, Articles, Reviews Find out who the 10 most popular foreign writers…...read more »

The Week in Translation

December 3, 2012

Readings what: Paul Legault Explains How to Translate from English to English when: Thursday, December 6, 7pm where: Amnesia; 853 Valencia St, San Francisco more info: http://ow.ly/fM5ns what: Panel discussion with Eugene Ostashevsky, George Musser, Richard Leslie, Gadadhara Pandit Dasa and Olga…...read more »

The Week in Translation

November 26, 2012

GO Readings what: The Bridge Series for Literary Translation: WWB contributors Suzanne Jill Levine and Stephen Kessler when: Monday, November 26, 7pm where: McNally Jackson Books more info: http://ow.ly/fA5nh what: Charles Simic Reading when: Thursday, November 29, 7pm where: NYU's Lillian…...read more »

Translation Roundup

November 22, 2012

READ Interviews, Articles, Reviews New dispatches from Tijuana's Festival de Literatura del Noroeste (FeLiNo) and the second annual Dhaka Hay Festival. For International Translation Day 2012, WWB contributor Rosalind Harvey talks about what it's like to be a young translator. WWB contributor Bill…...read more »

The Week in Translation

November 19, 2012

GO what: The Poets' Theatre: ANTIGONICK with Anne Carson (directed by Sam Gold) when: Monday, November 19, 8pm where: Kaufman Concert Hall, NYC more info: http://ow.ly/fpizI what: Guadalajara International Book Fair when: November 24-December2 where: Guadalajara, Mexico more info: http://ow.ly/fpjrH...read more »

Translation Roundup

November 15, 2012

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to all the winners of the 2012 National Book Awards, who were honored in New York last night. Louise Erdrich accepted the fiction award for her novel, The Round House, in both English and Ojibwe. The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award longlist…...read more »

The Week in Translation

November 12, 2012

GO what: Granta's Jorge Amado: A Legacy with WWB contributor Gregory Rabassa when: Monday, November 12, 7pm where: McNally Jackson more info: http://ow.ly/fcpYb SUBMIT what: The University of Iowa's literary translation magazine eXchanges is seeking new poetry, fiction, and…...read more »

The Week in Translation

November 5, 2012

GO what: "Reaching the World" Summit and Literary Festival: Bangkok's first international literary festival for writers and translators when: November 5-9 where: Bangkok, UNESCO's 'World Book Capital 2013' more info: http://ow.ly/f1Ug0 what: launch parties for Granta 121:…...read more »

Translation Roundup

November 1, 2012

READ Interviews, Articles, Reviews Peter Mountford talks to NPR about discovering that his debut novel, A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism, was being illegally translated into Russian by a biologist, and his unusual response: trying to help. Also on NPR, an excerpt from Nataly…...read more »

The Week in Translation

October 29, 2012

GO what: Ilan Stavans presents "South of the Border: the Jews of Latin America" a 2-day program at the Yiddish Book Center when: November 2-4 where: Amherst, MA more info: http://ow.ly/eQOuK what: Franck André Jamme readings when: Tuesday, October 30, 7pm; Friday, November 2, 5:30pm where:…...read more »

Translation Roundup

October 25, 2012

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to Hilary Mantel, who was just awarded the Man Booker prize for the second time! Check out the 2013 DSC South Asian Prize longlist, which includes two books in translation. Philip Hand is this year's Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize winner. Congratulations!…...read more »

The Week in Translation

October 22, 2012

GO what: 2012 PEN Literary Awards Ceremony when: Tuesday, October 23, 6:30pm where: Proshansky Auditorium, The City University of New York more info: http://ow.ly/eEu3U what: The Bridge: Passageways Launch Party with WWB contributors Naja Marie Aidt, Erica Mena, and Rachel Morgenstern-Clarren.…...read more »

Translation Roundup

October 18, 2012

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to the recipient of the 2013 Newman Prize for Chinese Literature, Taiwonese poet Yang Mu! The 2012 National Book Award finalists were revealed this week. Interviews, Articles, Reviews In the new issue of Asymptote, award-winning writer Yiyun Li talks to Clare…...read more »

The Week in Translation

October 15, 2012

GO what: 2012 Garden City Literary Festival when: opens October 15 where: Port Harcourt, Nigeria more info: http://ow.ly/et5Co what: Manchester Literature Festival when: October 8-23 where: Manchester, England more info: http://ow.ly/et5EK what: MONET TO MALLARMÉ: THE FRENCH SYMBOLIST…...read more »

Translation Roundup

October 13, 2012

READ Honors and Awards This year's Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Chinese writer Mo Yan, whose novel Big Breasts & Wide Hips (translated by Howard Goldblatt) was reviewed by WWB. Interiews, Articles, Reviews All this month, City Lights bookstore is celebrating Banned Books…...read more »

The Week in Translation

October 8, 2012

GO what: Festival de la Palabra in NY when: Thursday, October 11, 7pm where: Queen Sofia Spanish Institute/684 Park Ave at 68th street/New York, NY admission fee: FREE for Americas Society and Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Members; $10.00 for non-members. more info: http://ow.ly/eiJFR what: 15-stop…...read more »

Translation Roundup

October 4, 2012

READ Honors and Awards Congratulations to the 2012 ALTA Fellows: Janet Kim Ha, Hai-Dang Phan, Claire Van Winkle, Alexandra Berlina, and WWB contributor Joshua Daniel Edwin! Interiews, Articles, Reviews The well-beloved and prolific translator Michael Henry Heim passed away this week. You can read moving…...read more »

The Week in Translation

October 2, 2012

GO what: 15-stop book tour for poets and WWB contributors Ghassan Zaqtan and Fady Joudah when: October 1-October 29 where: venues across the U.S. more info: http://ow.ly/e6xSc what: Istanbul Tanpinar Literature Festival: City and Fear, featuring over 60 authors from 22 different countries when:…...read more »

Translation Roundup

September 27, 2012

READ Interviews, Articles, Reviews An old Ethiopian farmer's story about an ant inspired a lifetime of collecting and translating children's books for New Zealand-born writer Elizabeth Laird. In a recent interview on World Literature Today, she talks about Ethiopia's linguistic complexities,…...read more »

The Week in Translation

September 24, 2012

GO what: Pole Position: Polish Book Autumnfest 17 events in 2 months, at 15 venues across 10 different cities, featuring 7 key Central European writers when: events run from September 19-November 7 where: various locations more info: http://ow.ly/dVGb8

Translation Roundup

September 20, 2012

READ Awards and Honors The Man Booker shortlist was recently announced. The top six books were written by British, Indian, and Malaysian writers. The 2012 prize winner will be revealed on October 16. Congratulations to the 2012 winners of the PEN Literary Awards, including translators and WWB contributors Bill…...read more »

The Week in Translation

September 18, 2012

GO what: SYMBIOSIS: AN EVENING OF ASIAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN POETRY with Monica Ferrell, Kimiko Hahn, Timothy Liu, and Angela Veronica Wong when: Thursday, September 20, 7:00pm where: Museum of Chinese in America/215 Centre Street, New York, NY more info: http://ow.ly/dLLtq what: BROOKLYN…...read more »

Translation Roundup

September 13, 2012

READ Awards and Honors Congratulations to Dubravka Ugresic, whose novel Karaoke Culture ( reviewed here by WWB) recently won the Jean Améry Award for Essay Writing! Interviews, Articles, Reviews On English PEN's Atlas, novelist Krys Lee confronts an audience member's question…...read more »

The Week in Translation

September 10, 2012

The Week in Translation

September 3, 2012

GO what: Singapore International Storytelling Festival when: September 1-5 where: Singapore more info: http://ow.ly/dqtyp what: Second International Congress of Translators, a gathering of translators of Russian literature from more than 30 countries when: September 7-8 where: Moscow more info: http://ow.ly/dqtr8...read more »

Translation Roundup

August 30, 2012

READ Awards and Honors Check out the 22 entries for the 2012 Banipal Translation Prize! Interviews, Articles, Reviews In the September issue of World Literature Today, Chilean novelist Joseph Brodky discusses postmemory cyborgs, monumentalization, the ability to get excited about lies, and his friendship…...read more »

One Day Left to Help Geoff Wisner Reach His Fundraising Goal for “African Lives”

August 29, 2012

Words without Borders is pleased to announce that writer, editor, and WWB contributor Geoff Wisner's second book, African Lives: An Anthology of Memoirs and Autobiographies, will be appearing next spring from Lynne Rienner Publishers. The book will include more than 40 selections from African…...read more »

The Week in Translation

August 27, 2012

GO what: Gained in Translation: WWB contributor Daniel Hahn and Sarah Ardizzone talk about about what makes a good translator, why being a good linguist isn’t enough, and how the best are creative writers themselves. when: Monday, August 27, 5:00-6:00pm where: “The Art of…...read more »

Translation Roundup

August 23, 2012

READ Translation News Congratulations to Suzanne Jill Levine, winner of the 2012 PEN Center USA Translation Prize, for her translation of Jose Donoso's The Lizard's Tale: A Novel! Interviews, Articles, Reviews According to Israeli author Etgar Keret, “Translators are like ninjas. If…...read more »

The Week in Translation

August 20, 2012

GO what: Spanish Translation Duel; Bernardo Atxaga is joined by translators and WWB contributors Rosalind Harvey and Frank Wynne. Hosted by WWB contributor Daniel Hahn. when: Monday, August 20, 6:45-7:45pm where: “The Art of Translation” at the Edinburgh International…...read more »

Translation Roundup

August 16, 2012

READ Interviews, Articles, Reviews "I imagine it’s a little bit like what cryptographers used to do: get into the mindset of the person who created the code (author, character, etc) and you can find a way to translate it," Lytton Smith says in a recent interview, about bringing Icelandic author…...read more »

The Week in Translation

August 13, 2012

GO what: Translator and WWB contributor Margaret Jull Costa Discusses Nobel Laureate Jose Saramago when: Monday, August 13, 7-10pm where: Book Club of California, 312 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA more info: http://ow.ly/cV6Bg what: David Bellos talks to author Jennie Erdal about Is That A Fish In Your…...read more »

Translation Roundup

August 9, 2012

READ Interviews, Articles, Reviews Writer and WWB contributor Elias Khoury's latest novel, As Though She Were Sleeping, explores the porous boundary between dreams and waking life, set against the backdrop of 1946 Beirut. It was recently reviewed by Three Percent. Growing up in Albania during Enver…...read more »

The Week in Translation

August 6, 2012

GO what: "Monet to Mallarmé": Mary Ann Caws, Paul Legault, Susan Mitchell, and Laila Pedro read from the poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé, in French and in a variety of translations. Monet to Mallarmé is a six-event salon series at the New…...read more »

Translation Roundup

August 2, 2012

READ Awards and Honors The National Endowment for the Arts recently announced its 2012 Literature Translation Fellowships. Winners include translators and WWB contributors Katherine Silver, Rika Lesser, and Christian Hawkey, as well as two recipients of 2012 PEN Translation Fund Grants: Deborah Garfinkle…...read more »

Support the Publication of Geoff Wisner’s “African Lives”

August 1, 2012

The Week in Translation

July 30, 2012

GO what: June Fourth Elegies: A Reading and Discussion with Jeffrey Yang and Larry Siems when: Thursday, August 2, 6:30-8pm where: Museum of Chinese in America RSVP to programs@mocanyc.org website: http://www.mocanyc.org/visit/events/june_fourth_elegies_a_reading_and_discussion_with_jeffrey_yang_and_larry_siems…...read more »

The Week in Translation

July 26, 2012

READ Awards and Honors Congratulations to the 2012 PEN Translation Fund Grant recipients: translator and WWB contributor Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Bernard Adams, Brent Edwards, Alexander Booth, Bonnie Huie, Hillary Gulley, Joshua Daniel Edwin, Deborah Garfinkle, Jacquelyn Pope, Carrie Reed, Nathanaël,…...read more »