Book Discussion:
the philosophy OF TRANSLATION 
by DAMION SEARLS

Time & Location

October 16, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum
93 Pike St #307, Seattle, WA 98101, USA

About the Event

Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum and The Northwest Literary Translators invite you to join us for an in-person book discussion of the 2024 book The Philosophy of Translation by translator Damion Searls, led by Folio librarian Lillian Dabney. 

As the translator of sixty books from multiple languages, Searls has spent decades grappling with words on the most granular level: nouns and verbs, accents on people’s names, rhymes, rhythm, “untranslatable” cultural nuances. Here, he connects a wealth of specific examples to larger philosophical issues of reading and perception. This sharp and inviting exploration of the theory and practice of translation is for anyone who has ever marveled at the beauty, force, and movement of language. —  Publisher's Website

Read the book (buy or borrow), then join us at Folio for an in-person guided discussion. Please bring a snack or beverage to share if you can.

“Searls’s philosophy is ultimately one of freedom—to move beyond mere equivalence, to translate how a text communicates rather than simply what it says.” -— Max Norman (The New Yorker)

“Damion Searls is perhaps the only translator in the world who could write a book with the title The Philosophy of Translation and be taken seriously by theorists and practitioners of translation alike. This erudite and accessible volume takes us on a tour of the world of translation where the familiar is made unfamiliar and back again. A stellar work I will be quoting from and returning to for years to come.” — Anton Hur

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