Join us for a book talk with Icelandic poet and historian Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir and translator and ASF Translation Prizewinner K.B. Thors on Herostories! With moderator Larissa Kyzer (also an ASF Translation Prizewinner), Tómasdóttir and Thors will discuss this new work out now from Vellum Press revealing tales untold by most history books: the harrowing journeys and vital triumphs of 19th- and 20th-century midwifery in the vast landscape of Iceland.

Composed from the memoirs and biographies of 100 Icelandic midwives, poet-historian Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir’s found poems illuminate the dangers and valor of birthwork. Forgoing traditional sagas of androcentric conquest, these poems center the adventures of ljósmæður, “mothers of light.” Tómasdóttir leverages epic elements—dashing mountain treks, rivers forded on horseback, unyielding compassion—to challenge how and by whom stories become legend. Beyond archival recognition, the text’s formally ambitious poetics render gender-based battles for literacy and education alongside narratives of selfless womanly caretaking, pressurizing the fundamental tensions between feminine self-actualization and the romanticized service of these trailblazing figures.

The follow-up to Tómasdóttir and Thors’ award-winning, PEN-nominated Stormwarning, Herostories documents the professional achievements of Iceland’s first women to work outside the home, precursors to today’s midwives who remain central to contemporary health care on the island.

“Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir has done the seemingly impossible: taken our contemporary capitalist culture, suffused with moralism as well as not-so-hidden prejudice, glorying in its achievements while squandering its wealth, and submitted it to critique while making us laugh at the whole thing” (Magdalena Kay, World Literature Today).

I’m delighted to be taking part in an event at Molasses Books (770 Hart St, Brooklyn, NY) next week which will both celebrate the publication of Herostories by Icelandic poet and historian Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir and translated by K.B. Thors. In addition to readings from this fabulous and fascinating book, I will be sharing some new translations from Icelandic, and translators Janet Lee and Kira Josefsson will be sharing their own translation work as well. Hope to see you there!

Icelandic authors Örvar Smárason and Hildur Knútsdóttir in conversation with Argentinian author Mariana Enriquez

Translator Larissa Kyzer will speak with three authors about the aspects of their writing that frustrate, horrify, or disgust the reader. What role does horror play in literature? Why do readers gravitate to content that scares them, or leaves them with a looming sense of horror or dread? Mariana Enriquez, Örvar Smárason and Hildur Knútsdóttir all have experience of writing about things that most people find horrifying. In this discussion, the writers dissect these questions, and more. 

The event will take place in English.

This fall, join us for a virtual literary series with the nominees of this year’s Nordic Council Literature Prize! Awarded since 1962 alongside other prizes from the Nordic Council in music, film, and environment, the Literature Prize is selected annually for a work of fiction (poetry, prose, or drama) written in one of the Nordic languages, Created to generated greater interest in the sense of Nordic cultural community and to recognize unique artistic endeavors, each year’s prize is selected by the Nordic Adjudication Committee, made up of two members from each of the Nordic nations.

More information TK.

I will be taking part in a panel on Poetry and Translation alongside Olena Jennings, a translator from Ukrainian and a poet, and poet and theater director Virlana Tkacz. There will be many other panels and free book giveaways all day. Free, but registration required; more info here.

June 23: 1pm MST / 4pm EST

Literary translators are notoriously underpaid and undervalued. In this session, four full-time freelancers will discuss what it takes to make a living in a profession with no official minimum rate, how they find paying gigs and diversify their revenue streams, reconcile passion projects with paid ones, and manage to sustain a practice of translation, especially if translation isn’t their only commitment. They will also share resources for self-employed translators, including advice for beginners.

Register for free here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/3y24a3vb/register

Panelists

Bruna Dantas Lobato (moderator) is a writer and translator living in St. Louis. Her recent translations from Portuguese include Caio Fernando Abreu's seminal story collections Moldy Strawberries and No Dragons in Paradise (Archipelago Books), Stênio Gardel’s novel The Words that Remain (New Vessel Press), and Giovana Madalosso's novel Tokyo Suite (Europa Editions).

Larissa Kyzer is a writer and Icelandic literary translator. Her translation of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s A Fist or a Heart was awarded the American Scandinavian Foundation’s 2019 translation prize. She was Princeton University’s fall 2019 Translator in Residence.

Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is a literary translator working from Arabic, German, and Russian into English. Her translations include books from Germany, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Russia, Switzerland, and Syria.

A 2021 Guggenheim fellow, Edward Gauvin has translated in various fields from film to fiction, with a personal focus on contemporary comics (BD) and post-Surrealist literatures of the fantastic. The translator of over 400 graphic novels, he is a contributing editor for comics at Words Without Borders.

Us&Them is a quarterly reading series giving literary translators with parallel careers as writers a place to showcase both sides of their work.

The summer 2021 installment featured readings from the following writer-translators:
LILY MEYER
reading Claudia Ulloa Donoso (Peru)
LARISSA KYZER
reading Icelandic poetry*
JULIA WALTON
reading poetry from Bluestocking magazine (Japan)
NAIMA RASHID
reading Ali Akbar Natiq (Pakistan)

*Two poems from Kári Tulinius’ Glacier Line: “Upon Seeing Snæfellsjökull Glacier from an Idling Bus” and “Vanishings of Snæfellsjökull Glacier,” both of which were published in the July 2021 issue of Asymptote; and three poems by members of Reykjavík’s Impostor Poets’ Collective—”Malice,” by Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir, “Hauntings” by Thórdís Helgadóttir, and “Jam” by Sunna Dís Másdóttir—which are forthcoming in a chapbook co-published by myself and Meg Matich.

On July 13, join us for a virtual book talk with Icelandic author Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir and translator Meg Matich on the release of the new novel Magma.

In this slim and haunting debut, 20-year-old Lilja is quickly smitten with an intelligent, beautiful young man from university who quotes Derrida, reads Latin and cooks balanced vegetarian meals. Before long, she’s moved in with him and begins living in his cramped apartment. As the newfound intimacy of sharing a shower and bed fuels her desire to please her partner, his quiet and pervasive manipulations start to unravel her, as acts of nearly imperceptible abuse continue to mount. Lilja wants to hold onto him, take care of him and be the perfect lover. But in order to do so, she gradually lets go of her boundaries and concurrently starts to lose her sense of self.

With astounding clarity and restraint, Magma sheds light on the commonplace undercurrents of violence that so often go undetected in romantic relationships.

With moderator Larissa Kyzer, the author and translator will discuss the novel, out beginning today from Black Cat. Click here to learn more and to order.

This event will take place as a Zoom webinar; please ask questions in the chat or send them in advance to  info@amscan.org. Registration is required; please sign up here.

Free, But Registration Required, Here.

New York City’s Scandinavia House presents the second installment of its “Nordic Authors You Should Know” series with bilingual reading and panel discussion with the Svikaskáld, or Imposter Poets Collective—Thórdís Helgadóttir, Thora Hjörleifsdóttir, Fríða Ísberg, Ragnheiður Harpa Leifsdóttir, Sunna Dís Másdóttir, and Melkorka Ólafsdóttir—moderated by writer and translator Larissa Kyzer. The event will begin with short readings of the poets’ work in both English and in Icelandic, followed by a lively discussion with the authors.

Please send audience questions ahead of the discussion to info@amscan.org. Select questions will be chosen for a Q&A following the conversation. The event is free, but registration is required; please sign up here. 

A limited-edition, letterpress chapbook with a selection of previously untranslated work by the Imposter Poets will be published in conjunction with the event. Werewind: The Selected Imposter Poets, jointly translated by Larissa Kyzer and Meg Matich, can be preordered at https://www.ethandthorn.com/

On Tuesday, May 5, Icelandic author Kristín Eiríksdóttir and ASF Translation Prize winner Larissa Kyzer will present an online book talk on A Fist or a Heart, winner of the Icelandic Literary Prize.

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_D73ZqgMiQjy8iI2zLFI5rA

Elín Jónsdóttir lives an isolated existence in Reykjavík, Iceland, making props and prosthetics for theatrical productions and Nordic crime flicks. In her early seventies, she has recently become fascinated with another loner, Ellen Álfsdóttir, a sensitive young playwright and illegitimate daughter of a famous writer. The girl has aroused maternal feelings in Elín, but she has also stirred discomfiting memories long packed away. Because their paths have crossed before. One doesn’t remember. The other is about to forget. A Fist or a Heart is a gripping, artfully interwoven novel of power, secrets, and isolation by one of the most bracing and original voices of the author’s generation.

Please send audience questions ahead of the discussion to info@amscan.org. Select questions will be chosen for a Q&A following the conversation. Following the event, the video will be available to stream on YouTube.

On Tuesday, May 12, we will follow up the event with an Online Nordic Book Club discussing the novel.

Kristín Eiríksdóttir (A Fist or a Heart) and translator Larissa Kyzer(A Fist or a Heart) detail the dizzying relationship of two Icelandic women in a thrilling mix of buried memories, balances of power, and hidden secrets. Moderated by editor Gabriella Page-Fort, Eiríksdóttir and Kyzer will talk about the process of working together on this heart racing and page turning project.

This event was canceled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been rescheduled as a virtual event during the Sant Jordi NYC Online Book Festival, from April 23 - 25.

More Info at santjordinyc.org

The next Jill! reading will feature translators Jacob Rogers (Galician), Ruwa Alhayek (Arabic), and Tenzin Dickie (Tibetan). More info tk, but for now, save the date!

More info about the event on Facebook, here.

This event was canceled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been rescheduled as a virtual event during the Sant Jordi NYC Online Book Festival, from April 23 - 25.

More Info at santjordinyc.org

Icelandic author Bergur Ebbi reads passages from Screenshot, an exploration of the human condition in a digital world, now in new translation by Larissa Kyzer. Do modern people no longer fear fire and destruction, but rather the fact that from now on nothing will ever be deleted or forgotten? In this journey through the human mind and the modern-day challenges, Bergur Ebbi looks at connections between fake news and artificial intelligence, the way it is to live in a society in which everything is always rated, and other contemporary dilemmas, dissecting the contradictions we face today. 

In this event, Bergur Ebbi will give an energetic talk about Screenshot‘s subjects, based on a lecture on the book which now runs in The Reykjavík City Theatre. Following the discussion, copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. 

Event is free and open to the public; RSVP here.

This event was canceled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been rescheduled as a virtual event during the Sant Jordi NYC Online Book Festival, from April 23 - 25.

More Info at santjordinyc.org

A literary talk with Icelandic poet and author Fríða Ísberg and writer and Icelandic literary translator Larissa Kyzer.

Icelandic author Fríða Ísberg and writer and Icelandic literary translator Larissa Kyzer will discuss “impostor syndrome” in the literary world and the never-ending struggle between self-doubt and authority, as well as the ways that both are addressed by Icelandic poetry collective Svikaskáld (Impostor Poets), of which Ísberg is a member.

They will also present readings from Ísberg’s short story collection Kláði (2018), currently nominated for the 2020 Nordic Council Literary Prize. The readings will be in both English and Icelandic.

See more here.

Excited to be reading as part of the Another Way to Say literature in translation series later this month. The lineup thus far is myself, reading from Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s novel A Fist or a Heart, Elina Alter, and Aaron Robertson, reading from Igiaba Scego’s Beyond Babylon. More info soon; follow AWtS on Facebook here.

For our first Jill! reading of 2020, we'll be welcoming translators Mike Fu (Chinese), Nora Carr (Spanish), and Sharon Rhodes (Danish). More information on the Jill! Facebook page tk.

Come celebrate the launch of Camperdown’s new poetry reading series at Halyards. This month’s event will be hosted by Sam Vacca. Camperdown’s reading series is part of a new concept originated by Shafina Ahmed, Terence Degnan, and Sam.

I’ll be reading Icelandic poetry in translation at this event, primarily by Kári Tulinius, but also with selections of work by Gerður Kristný, Kristín Eiríksdóttir, Lommi, and others.

RSVP and get more info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/624327985041708/

Talk given as part of Princeton’s Lunchtime Lecture Series on Translation.

The process of translation is often understood as a one-way process with a set power structure. Many people see the translator as being in service to a set-in-stone text, and/or to the author, who has final and indisputable say on all creative decisions and whose preferences must be strictly adhered to. In this talk, I’ll use case studies of productive collaborations between myself and bilingual Icelandic authors to offer an alternate understanding of the author-translator relationship and attempt to illuminate the many ways in which translation is an inherently creative act.

Sponsored by

Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication

I’m delighted to announce that the first Jill! Women+ in Translation reading will be held at Pen + Brush, an organization that has dedicated itself to giving a voice and platform to women artists and writers since 1894 (!).

Readers and further details TK, but mark your calendars!

August marks the fifth year celebrating Women in Translation (#WiT) Month. Only a tiny fraction of the literature published in English every year—under 5 percent—was originally written in another language, and a mere 25 percent of that 5 percent (1.25%) was written by women. Books by women in translation also get far less review coverage, award nominations, and bookstore promotion, and as a result, have a harder time making it into readers’ hands.

Launched by blogger Meytal Radzinski in 2014, WiT Month shines a light on this disparity and gives a platform to the women authors and translators who enrich our literary landscape and broaden our cultural horizons. Since its inception, readers, translators, bookstores, publishers, and other literary organizations have taken up Meytal’s simple challenge to “1) increase the dialogue and discussion about women in translation and 2) read more books by women in translation” and redoubled their efforts to magnify the voices of women writing around the world. After all, gender disparity in translation not only deprives us of meaningful and exciting literary works, it also represents a real constraint on freedom of expression around the world.

This event, organized under the aegis of the PEN America Translation Committee, brings together six translators working in five different languages: French, Icelandic, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. Each translator will read from works by women they translate, both in the original language and in her own translation. After the reading, we’ll have time for a short Q&A and discussion.

Participants:

Catherine Maigret Kellogg was born in France and worked in marketing before discovering a passion for literary translation. Her co-translation, with Nancy Naomi Carlson, of Suzanne Dracius’ The Dancing Other is her first published work. She is currently completing a Master’s Degree in Translation at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Elina Alter is a writer and translator from Russian. Her recent translations of the writer Alla Gorbunova have appeared in The New England Review and The Nashville Review. Elina was a 2018 ALTA Travel Fellow and 2019 Fellow at Tent. She lives in New York. 

Jacqui Cornetta is a poet, translator, and musician. Her work can be found in places like Words Without Borders, CUNY Poetics Document Initiative: Lost & Found, and A Perfect Vacuum. She received an MFA in Literary Translation from Queens College and is Translation Editor at The Puerto Rico Review.

Kira Josefsson is a writer and translator working between English and Swedish, with work published in Words Without Borders, Granta, Triple Canopy, Exchanges, and elsewhere. Her in-progress translation of Pooneh Rohi's Araben received a 2017 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant. She's part of the editorial team for Anomaly's translation section and the editorial board for Swedish journal Glänta.

Larissa Kyzer is an Icelandic-English literary translator based in Brooklyn. Her translation of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s novel A Fist or a Heart will be published in September 2019. Larissa holds an MA in Translation Studies from the University of Iceland and will be the fall 2019 Translator in Residence at Princeton University.

Nancy Naomi Carlson is a poet and translator. Recipient of an NEA translation grant, she’s been decorated with the French Academic Palms. Her work has appeared in APR, The Paris Review, and Poetry, and she is a translation editor for Tupelo Quarterly.

From the PEN World Voices event write-up:

The Festival favorite returns! Witness an illuminating and exhilarating literary debate with competing translations of Japanese and Icelandic poems. Then, join an interactive discussion on the art of translation with Icelandic poet Gerður Kristný and Japanese writer Kanako Nishi, who will be joined by literary translators Larissa Kyzer, Kara B. Thors, Terry Gallagher, and Iyasu Nagata. Hosted by Allison Markin Powell and Björn Halldórsson.

Co-presented with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

May 9
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Tickets $12 in advance; $15 at the door.
Purchase tickets here.

Come hear seven translators read from their work in progress and talk about the challenges they're facing, with plenty of time for socializing and discussion. Invited readers are Janine Beichman, Vivian O'Shaughnessy, Alex Zucker, Nancy Kline, Larissa Kyzer, Norman MacAfee, and Mara Faye Lethem, reading translations from Japanese, French, Czech, Icelandic, Italian, and Catalan.

Hosted by PEN America’s Translation Committee.

A one-day session part of the multilingual, multicultural, multimedia writing lab that was designed by Iceland-based Canadian poet Angela Rawlings. The workshop is co-sponsored by Borgarbókasafn (the Reykjavík Public Library), Söguhringur kvenna, Ós Pressan, and W.O.M.E.N.

Angela has designed and will be leading four sessions of this writing lab for cis and trans women of foreign origin. My own session will be focused on translation (although no special translation - or language - skills are necessary), specifically the process of translating collaboratively with an author who writes in a language that you, the translator, do not speak. I’ve worked like this once myself before, translating a poem from Polish in close collaboration with the poet, and it was a really fascinating and illuminating process.

Other sessions—including one on authorial identities and writing in a second language, and one in which participants' writing will be transformed into audio—will be facilitated by our fellow Ós Pressan members Elena Ilkova, Ewa Marcinek, and Randi W. Stebbins.