British Centre for Literary Translation

Edith Grossman in Conversation with Daniel Hahn

Friday 24 May at 7pm

A rare visit to the UK by the distinguished critic and translator Edith Grossman. She will be in conversation with Daniel Hahn of the British Centre for Literary Translation.

Edith Grossman on translation
‘Translation expands our ability to explore through literature the thoughts and feelings of people from another society or another time. It permits us to savour the transformation of the foreign into the familiar and for a brief time to live outside our own skin, our own preconceptions and misconceptions. It expands and deepens our world, our consciousness, in countless, indescribable ways.’

European Literature Night

Wednesday 15 May at 6.30pm, The British Library, London

Now in its fifth year, and held simultaneously in capital cities across the continent, European Literature Night takes you on an enthralling reading journey across vivid cultural landscapes. The British Library hosts eight exceptional writers, from groundbreaking new talent to leading names. Joining BBC journalist and presenter Rosie Goldsmith for readings and conversation with Norbert Gstrein (Austria), Miha Mazzini (Slovenia), Erwin Mortier (Belgium/Flanders), Ece Temelkuran (Turkey), Jordi Punti (Spain/Catalonia) Jáchym Topol (Czech Republic) Birgit Vanderbeke (Germany) and Frank Westerman (Netherlands).

In partnership with EUNIC London, the European Commission and Speaking Volumes

Book now at the British Library website

Fiction Fiesta

Saturday 18-19 May, Cardiff University

An innovative programme of literary events celebrating international fiction and poetry in translation alongside home-grown talent.  Join authors, poets, translators and critics in a lively celebration of literature in translation.

Find out more at the Fiction Fiesta website

BCLT at the London Literature Festival

Edith Grossman and Margaret Jull Costa

Translation Duel with Alejandro Zambra

Saturday 25 May at 7.45pm, Southbank Centre

Two eminent translators go head-to-head with rival versions of the same text.Edith Grossman (translator of Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Don Quixote) and Margaret Jull Costa (Javier Marías, José Saramago) come armed with independent translations of a short text by Chilean novelist Alejandro Zambra.

Expect intriguing discrepancies and heated discussion in an event which sheds light on what literary translation is really about.The author himself also contributes to the discussion, and moderator Daniel Hahn is on hand, attempting to keep the peace. No knowledge of Spanish is required to join the debate.