The Translation Table is Tills Bookshop’s new monthly reading group dedicated to translated literature and literature about translation. We will meet around the community table in our Portobello location once a month to discuss a work of translated fiction that the group will have read in advance. The focus of our discussion will be the complex ideas surrounding the translation of literature. We will explore the notion of originality and ownership, understanding a translated work as ‘twice written’, both by the author and again by the translator.
We will explore how each book has been translated, and by whom; why we think this particular book was chosen for translation; what effect the linguistic and geographical journeys might have had on the book we read; how these same journeys affect the language of the book; and how a work in translation might impact a reader differently than reading a work in the original language.
The books that we have chosen for this series of meetings are all books that we love, and that we think are great starting points to prompt discussions around different aspects of translation. To complement the books and aid us in this journey, we have paired each work of translated fiction with secondary readings or audio about translation. But while we suggest that you read the primary fictional texts discussed each week, it’s not necessary that you come prepared on these secondary sources too - we will read extracts aloud, and we will also provide a summary of the main points and ideas found in these secondary texts.
Copies of all the featured books will be available to purchase with a 10% discount for participants at both of our bookshops or on our website. But you don’t need to buy them from us (or even at all). A reading copy of each book will be available for you to read at Tills & Company, our Portobello bookshop, maybe while sipping on a delicious coffee or tea from our café: just ask one of our booksellers! Alternatively, most of our titles are available to borrow from Edinburgh city libraries. Aren’t libraries the best?
Lastly, whether you’re a professional translator, a translation student, or someone who finds translation interesting, this group is for you! Our goal is to create a space where we can all share our passion for literature in translation, and learn from each other in the process.
We hope to see you around the Table!
THE BOOKS
Week One - 22nd February 2024
An introduction to the ideas of literary translation through:
Kate Briggs - “This Little Art”
With a comparison of translated works to be done during the session.
Week Two - 21st March 2024
Yoko Tawada - “Scattered all over the earth” (translated by Margaret Mitsutani).
To be read alongside excerpts from Mireille Gansel - “Translation as Transhumance” (translated by Ros Schwartz).
Week Three - 18th April 2024
Shushan Avagyan - “A book, untitled” (translated by Deanna Cachoian-Schanz)
Ro be read alongside excerpts from “River in an Ocean” edited by Nuzhat Abbas.
Week Four - 16th May 2024
Sharon Dodua Otoo -“Ada’s Realm” (translated by Jon Cho-Polizzi)
and/or
Igiaba Scego - “Adua” (translated by Jamie Richards)
To be read alongside excerpts from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o - “The Language of Languages”.
Week Five - 6th June 2024
Diamela Eltit - “Never did the Fire” (translated by Daniel Hahn)
To be read alongside excerpts from Daniel Hahn “Catching Fire”.