Recent Highlights
A few photos to share from recent events:
It was a real pleasure to have Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma with us at our regular salon. We read a Tamil story and discussed it together, and Thomas brought many insights to the table that helped bring us all to a greater understanding of the piece. It was instructive to note that we had all understood and enjoyed the story at certain levels without understanding the original, and even when the comments from Thomas deepened our appreciation for what was going on, it was clear that we had each experienced some level of engagement with the piece that at least approximated what a reader of the original might have. At least equally instructive were the comments that highlighted the ways in which the translation had let us down as readers, failing to bring across key images and ideas that made a real difference in our understanding.
After we discussed the story together, Thomas led us through a delightful discussion on the integrity of a translation. I have spoken – even gushed, I admit! – about that in a previous post, so I will not say more here. Suffice it to say that it was a very enriching evening for all who attended.
On Saturday, it was my pleasure to be a part of a panel discussion with Gopika Jadeja and Yeow Kai Chai entitled “Call Open Now: The Place of Translation in Literary Journals/Magazines,” moderated by Ian Chung. It was a lively discussion, and I appreciated the insights offered by Kai Chai and Gopika, both of whom always seem to have such a wealth of wisdom and experience to offer in any setting in which they present their ideas.
It was very exciting to catch up with other friends and colleagues at the symposium. Literary translation is an area of interest in Singapore now, and the Book Council did an outstanding job offering those of us in the field and many others who are adjacent to it a chance to talk about many ideas related to translation. It was, as always, an honour to be a part of the event with SBC.
In between these local events in Singapore, I was also invited to speak virtually to a group at the Translators Forum in Germany. It was a great pleasure to get to meet and speak to so many participants in Germany and from around Southeast Asia and the region. I greatly appreciate the platform that was created for me to share more about what we are doing here in Singapore. The forum focuses on the exchanges between Southeast Asia and the German language, and it is always such a wonderful feeling to be a part of what they are doing there.
It has been a busy week, but a very rewarding one too. It was energising to be a part of so many discussions on the craft of translation, and it was especially exciting to see how much interest there is in the field.