14. October - 26. October 2019

The Politics of Translation

Arabic Literatures in Europe

The public event puts the spotlight on translations and translatability of Arabic literatures. Renowned authors who write in Arabic enter the discussion with experts from different disciplines, such as translating, publishing or editing.

Together they discuss the bridge-building role of translations for the perception of Arabic literatures in Europe. The event aims to open the topic to a broader audience and to identify the urgencies and potential of literary translation.

An event by KfW Stiftung in cooperation with Commonwealth Writers.
The Short Stories Masterclass 2019 is a cooperation with the Goethe Institut Cairo. Please find further information below.

You will find a press Report, published by Publishing Perspectives on 26 October 2019, here.

Programme "The Politics of Translation. Arabic literatures in Europe"

16:30 Admission
17:00 Opening words by KfW Stiftung
Performance Reading with texts by writers of the “Short Stories Masterclass Frankfurt 2019” (Arabic/English)
Author Alaa Al Aswany in conversation with Daniel Medin (Center for Writers & Translators, American University of Paris)
Followed by a Panel Discussion with Lynn Gaspard (Saqi Books), Elisabeth Jaquette (American Literary Translators Association), Piero Salabè (Hanser Verlag)
moderated by Daniel Medin
19:30 Reception

Panel

Alaa Al Aswany was originally trained as a dentist and retains his own dental practice in Cairo. The Yacoubian Building has sold over one million copies worldwide, and was the bestselling novel in the Arab world for over five years. Al Aswany has received many awards internationally, including the Bashrahil Prize for the Arabic novel, the Kavafis Award from Greece, and the Premio Grinzane Cavour from Italy, and was named by The Times (London) as one of the best 50 authors to have been translated into English over the last 50 years. In 2016, he was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is the author of five novels and two non-fiction books.

Lynn Gaspard is Publisher and Managing Director at Saqi Books, London. A fiercely independent forum for writers and artists from around the world, Saqi has made its mark as a publisher unafraid of taking risks, championing works by minority writers from the Middle East and beyond. Building on Saqi’s reputation for making available progressive works, Gaspard has published books that present a nuanced perspective of the Middle East’s political and cultural heritages, including the acclaimed Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline, Elsewhere, Home by Leila Aboulela and The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write. Gaspard is a trustee of the Shubbak Festival of Contemporary Arab Culture, and a member of English PEN’s Writers in Translation Committee and the MFest Expert Advisory Group. She is the editor of the satirical collection Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic (a Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year).

Elisabeth Jaquette is a translator from the Arabic Language and Executive Director of the American Literary Translators Association. Her book-length translations include The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz, and Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun, among others. Her work has been shortlisted for the TA First Translation Prize, longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award, and supported by the Jan Michalski Foundation, PEN/Heim Translation Fund, and several English PEN Translates Awards. She is based in Tucson, Arizona.

Daniel Medin is associate professor of comparative literature and a director of the Center for Writers & Translators at the American University of Paris. Co-editor of Music & Literature magazine, he advises numerous journalists, publishers and agents on contemporary international fiction. He curates the series Berlin als Schaffensort at the Literaturhaus Berlin, and is a judge for the Haus der Kulturen der Welt International Literature Prize.

Piero Salabè has studied in Rome, Venice, London and Munich. He is Senior Fiction Editor of Hanser Verlag in Munich where he works foremost with English, Italian and Spanish, but also Arabic literature. Among his authors are Michael Ondaatje, Lisa Moore, Colm Tóibín, AL Kennedy, T.C. Boyle, Orhan Pamuk, Roberto Bolaño Claudio Magris and Alaa Al Aswany, whose new novel The Republic, As If will be issued next year. He is also a publicist, a poet and as well as a translator of poetry, being fluent in five languages.

Performance Reading

Within the framework of the programme series Short Stories, KfW Stiftung in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Cairo will host for the first time a Masterclass in Frankfurt am Main from 11.-14.10.2019.

Finalists from the previous workshops in Cairo, Beirut and Jericho up until 2018 were invited to apply for the workshop which aims to supplement, deepen and further explore topics and methodologies of literary writing. Questions tied to international publication process of literature will be addressed, such as editing and translation. Selected participants were invited to deliver feedback on their personal questions and requirements in order to proceed in their own chosen genre. As a platform for intercultural encounter, the workshop will offer young writers from different Arabic speaking regions the opportunity to connect with each other, nurture literary networks, discuss their work and exchange ideas.

Participants of Short Stories Masterclass Frankfurt 2019: