Steve Bradbury's Taiwanese Literature in Translation at OU

Steve Bradbury recently presented the opening lecture at the official opening of an ongoing exhibition at the Chinese Literature Translation Archive ( Bizzell Memorial Library @ OU) entitled “Taiwanese Literature in Translation at OU.” The exhibition will run through November 2022.

Those who weren’t able to attend the opening event might like to hear what he had to say about contemporary Taiwanese poetry and material culture during his lecture, focusing mainly on the poetry of three Taiwanese women poets, Hsia Yü, Amang, and Ye Mimi, while also addressing the work of other poets. His lecture was recorded and is available in this video:

The Chinese Literature Translation Archive at the OU Libraries (University of Oklahoma) is home to a large collection of rare books, reference materials, translation drafts, correspondence, notes, ephemera, and other historical materials that offer insight and context for scholars studying Chinese literature. Collections in the archive include the "William Bikales and Margaret Eliot Grady Collection" of Arthur Waley, along with nearly 10,000 textual resources from some of the best known modern translators from Chinese to English, including Howard Goldblatt, Wolfgang Kubin, and Wai-lim Yip.

Steve Bradbury lives in Taipei and teaches British and American poetry and fiction at National Central University. He formerly edited Full Tilt: A Journal of East-Asian Poetry, Translation and the Arts, and he has published five books in translation from Chinese, including Hsia Yü’s Salsa, which was shortlisted for the Lucien Stryk Prize. In 2021, his translation of Taiwanese poet Amang’s collection Raised by Wolves was named winner of the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. The work has been heralded as presenting a groundbreaking new framework for translation that seeks to be more inclusive of the reader.

The current exhibition at OU features selected works from Bradbury’s collection at CLTA, including rare books, manuscripts, and poetry ephemera principally from Taiwan. There will be additional events connected with the close of the exhibit in November 2022.

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