Literary Special Interest Group (LitSIG) Meetings

Let’s celebrate the art of literary translation!

Come and collaborate with us! Join us at one or both of our next LitSIG meetings, where we will share and discuss literary translation challenges and collaborate to find ingenious solutions for them. The first meeting is scheduled for September 2, and the second for November 4 from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM at Alienated Majesty Books (on the site of the former Malvern Books), 613 W 29th St, Austin, TX.

The September 2nd Meeting/Workshop

This workshop will consist of an aphorism exercise prepared for us by Marian Schwartz. We’ll be translating aphorisms from the dissident Russian satirist Viktor Shenderovich and workshopping each other’s solutions.

About aphorisms, as explained by Marian Schwartz: “An aphorism is defined as a pithy observation that contains a general truth. I’m about to begin translating an entire book of them (est. 2000 words in all) for Viktor Shenderovich.  Here I’ve chosen nineteen of them for the group to try their hand at.  All I’ve provided is the Russian original and a literal translation that is not pithy and often does not make the general truth apparent.  The idea is to come up with something that is pithy and makes a general truth apparent, even if it ends up not being the truth intended.  Remember, Russian doesn’t have articles, so feel free to play with switching around “a” and “the.”“

About Viktor Shenderovich: Viktor Shenderovich is a satirist best known for Puppets, a wildly popular political puppet show that aired on television in the Yeltsin and early Putin eras. I’ve published translations of two of his short stories: “Wind Over the Parade Ground” (Arkansas International, Fall 2016), and “Ars Long, Vita Brevis Est” (Subtropics, Winter 2014). Long known for his political oppositionism, Shenderovich left Russia after he was designated a “foreign agent” and now lives in Poland.

Printed copies of the workshop materials and of the attached aphorisms will be provided on our meeting table.

If there’s a friend you’ve forgotten to invite or a favorite editing pen you’ve yet to locate, now’s the time! Plus, there will be snaaacks…

Please contact our LitSIG coordinator Jamie Rising (litsig@aatia.org) for more information or if you would like to receive the workshop materials to prepare for the meetings ahead of time.

The meetings are open to members and non-members.