Literature in Translation (LiT) Program
Launched in 2009, the LiT Program brings international writers and translators to the Studio Center for concentrated residencies of solitary work, conversation, collaboration, and bi-lingual public readings. Month-long residencies, as well as public forums featuring distinguished writers and translators, are both a part of the LiT program.
From left: past and upcoming LiT Forum guests: Adam Zagajewski (2010), Patrizia Cavalli (2011), Emmanuel Moses (August 2012), and Peter Cole (October 2013)
Save The Date: 3rd annual ALSCW/VSC LiT Forum
On Friday August 24, 2012, Vermont Studio Center and the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) will co-sponsor the third annual Literature in Translation Forum, presenting French poet Emmanuel Moses and his translator, poet Marilyn Hacker. The evening is open to the public and will include a talk, a joint bi-lingual reading, and a question and answer session. In October 2013, the Lit Forum will feature Hebrew and Arabic writing, with poet and translator Peter Cole and writer Adina Hoffman, in the 4th of these annual public forums.
2011 LiT Forum with Patrizia Cavalli and Geoffrey Brock, October 2011
Previous ALSCW/LiT Forums
The inaugural LiT Forum in September 2010, with Polish poet Adam Zagajewski and translator Clare Cavanagh, drew an audience of more than ninety people to the VSC Lowe Lecture Hall (Johnson's historic opera house). The forum began with Zagajewski reading his poems in both their original Polish and English translations, then moved on to a discussion of their collaborative process, the back story of Adam's poem "Try to Praise the Mutilated World" (which appeared in the New Yorker immediately following the 9/11 attacks), and a question and answer session. A recording of Zagajewski's reading was added to VSC's audio podcast archive, which will be made available for download or streaming.
The 2011 LiT forum featured Italian poet Patrizia Cavalli and poet and translator Geoffrey Brock. The pair presented a talk to an international audience on the challenging role of choice and decision-making within each translation, and they read not only Brock’s translations of Cavalli into English, but Cavalli’s translations of Brock into Italian. Highlights also included Cavalli reading and discussing samples from her translation of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” into Italian.
Jintian Chinese Poetry Residencies
In 2009 and 2010, Vermont Studio Center and the Jintian Literary Fund partnered to sponsor The Jintian Chinese Poetry program, hosting Chinese poets and translators for two-week-long joint residencies at VSC. The Jintian program got off to a wonderful start in September 2009 with poet Ouyang Jianghe and his translator, Austin Woerner. In August of 2010, poet Yu Jian and his translator, Wang Ping, were in residence together; that month at VSC also included poets and translators Arthur Sze, Rika Lesser, and Ellen Dore Watson.
Chinese poet Ouyang Jianghe and translator Austin Woerner read "Handgun" outside the Maverick Writing Studios at the Vermont Studio Center during their 2009 joint residency as Literature in Translation Fellows at VSC, supported by the Jintian Literary Fund. Doubled Shadows, Ouyang Jianghe's first collection of poems translated into English (by Austin Woerner) is forthcoming from Zephyr Press in 2012.
Read Ouyang Jianghe's Thank You Letter to VSC in English or Chinese
Clockwise from top left: Chinese poet Yu Jian; VSC Visiting Writer Arthur Sze; Adam Zagajewski; 2010 LiT Forum with Adam Zagajewski and Clare Cavanaugh
From left: Antonello Borra, Greg Delanty, Geoffrey Brock, Gary Clark, Patrizia Cavalli, Annie Jacobs, 2011 LiT Forum, October 2011
Other International and Translation Residencies
In addition to the ALSCW and Jintian LiT program pairs, VSC has hosted writers and translators from Argentina, China, Cuba, Denmark Egypt, England, France, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Vietnam, and throughout the U.S. The presence of such writers and translators as Rosanna Warren, Cyrus Cassells, David Ferry, and others, onsite with VSC’s international visual artists makes for a rich and exciting community full of creative and cultural exchange.
Program Partnerships
Since the launch of the LiT program in 2009, VSC has teamed up with a number of organizations who share our interest in creating residency opportunities for international writers and translators. The LiT Forum and many of the individual fellowships have been funded through partnerships with ALSCW, Polish Cultural Institute, Jintian Literary Fund, Zoland Poetry, the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, the Alliance of Artists Communities, the Poetry Foundation, as well as several individual anonymous patrons.
Clockwise from top left: new group photo; Mario Morales with VSC alumna Deborah Clearman; VSC August 2010, Ron Padgett, Wang Ping, Yu Jian, Arthur Sze, Carol Moldaw, Rika Lesser, Ellen Watson, Gary Clark
For More Information
For more in formation on the LiT program, or to forward ideas of funding sources and international literary contacts, or to arrange for a visit to VSC during one or more of these international writing residencies, please contact Gary Clark, Director for Development and the Writing Program.
