Gdansk Literary Meetings “Found in translation – fantasy edition”

The City Culture Institute invites you to Gdansk Literary Meetings “Found in Translation” on April 15th-17th. The theme of this year’s edition is imagination, surrealism and fantasy. The festival events will take place online and the program includes: a panel of the writer and her translators with the participation of Dorota Maslowska, a discussion on the fantasy literature translations based on the works of Stanislaw Lem or Ronald Topor, and a sparring of translators.
More information: www.odnalezionewtlumaczeniu.pl.

Outstanding literature translators are responsible for the program of the event: Justyna Czechowska, Magdalena Heydel and Urszula Kropiwiec. In the fantasy edition of “Found in Translation” we will find references to literature and imagination in animated films or video games, the formula of sparring translators (this year from Spanish), a conversation about translating fantasy literature, transferring the works of Stanislaw Lem or Ronald Topor.

The decision to keep the April deadline was difficult, because the chance that we will function without necessity of keeping a distance or without restrictions, even regarding travel, is infinitesimal. We have made a decision to host the festival online (or, if possible, also with a limited audience). At the same time, we hope to reach literature lovers, especially those into translation, who do not live in Gdansk. “Found in Translation” is a festival with a unique formula – there is no other such cross-sectional encounter of translations’ authors, writers, and cultural experts. We are counting on the audience that we would like to host in Gdansk at consecutive editions – says Aleksandra Szymanska, director of the City Culture Institute.

11/04/2019 Gdansk. The writer and his translators: Andrzej Stasiuk | Margot Carlier, Jiri Cervenka, Siniša Kasumović, Renate Schmidgall, Andrzej Stasiuk; interviewed by Urszula Kropiwiec.
photo by Renata Dabrowska.

On April 15th, Gdansk Literary Meetings will open with “Writer and her translators”, well-known and liked by the festival audience. It will be devoted to translating the works of Dorota Maslowska and will be attended by her translators: Benjamin Paloff (USA), Olaf Kuhl (Germany), Pau Freixa (Spain), Irina Lappo (Russia). In previous years, the guests of this panel were: Wieslaw Mysliwski, Olga Tokarczuk, Andrzej Stasiuk and Adam Zagajewski.

The craftsmanship of translators can be admired during the exceptional sparring of Spanish translators: Wojciech Charchalis and Ewa Zaleska. Live, in front of an online audience, they will translate the same text from Spanish into Polish. Disputes and fierce discussions about words, interpretations and cultural contexts can be expected.

During the event (April 16th), the T. Boy-Zelenski Award of the President of Gdansk will be presented for translatory work in the category of lifetime achievement and translation of one work. We will know the nominees by the end of February 2021. The Award Committee consists of: Carlos Marrodán Casas, Jakub Ekier, Dobromila Jankowska, Izabela Korybut-Daszkiewicz, Justyna Sobolewska, Marcin Szuster, Anna Wasilewska.

11/04/2019 Gdansk. The writer and his translators: Andrzej Stasiuk | Margot Carlier, Jiri Cervenka, Siniša Kasumović, Renate Schmidgall, Andrzej Stasiuk; interviewed by Urszula Kropiwiec.
photo by Renata Dabrowska

Each edition of Gdansk Literary Meetings is accompanied by a publishing house, which in its own way presents topics important to translators: a selection of translated poems, a collection of essays or interviews, and recently – a comic book. In 2021, a book by Tadeusz Slawek entitled „On indirect roads. Literary translation and its worlds”, in which the author reflects on the philological, but also philosophical, ethical and political implications of the attitudes of translators.

All meetings and events, including the gala of presenting the T. Boy-Żelenski Award of the President of Gdansk will be broadcast live on City Culture Institute’s and Found in Translation’s Facebook pages, and on the City Culture Institute’s YouTube channel.

The event is organized by the City Culture Institute, a cultural institution of the City of Gdansk.

More information:
https://www.facebook.com/odnalezionewtlumaczeniu