POSTPONED: Spring Translation Slam!

This event has been postponed due to public health concerns. We hope to reschedule for June.

Save the date for NOTIS and Folio's third annual Translation Slam, pitting brave experienced translators in competition to defend their renderings of a short creative text. This year's Slam language is Finnish.

A translation slam provides unique insight into all the decisions, big and small, that go into producing a well-translated text. Translators can explain their process and priorities, audience members can offer critiques and ask questions, and everyone will come away with more appreciation for the art of literary translation. Whether or not you read Finnish, this comparative approach to assessing a translation's quality and effectiveness will be eye-opening... and fun! All are welcome.

This year NOTIS members Lola Rogers, Mia Spangenberg, and Jenni Salmi will battle over the best way to translate "A Short Literary Self-Portrait" by Pirkko Saisio (b. 1949), an esteemed playwright, actor, and author. She is a prominent figure on the Finnish cultural scene, and has won numerous literary awards, including the Finlandia Prize, Finland's most prestigious literary award. Amazingly, none of her work has yet appeared in English. This is a complex text that highlights Saisio's unique style - it's not quite verse or standard prose either, but it is spare and precise and features her unique brand of self-deprecatory humor. Read the Finnish original here.

This year's Translation Slam will be moderated by Scandinavian and Nordic languages expert Elizabeth DeNoma, who will provide her perspective as an editor and publisher of English translations.

The Northwest Literary Translators, part of the Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society, meet the third Thursdays of most months at Folio, the Seattle Athenaeum. For more information, join our Facebook group.