April 23, 2024

Roque Raquel Salas Rivera on Translating The Book of Conjurations

Poetry, like alchemy, can promise a material wealth it never quite delivers, transmutation through words, and the power to turn paupers into patrons, but most often promises an alchemy of the soul that strives toward a higher form. Irizelma Robles...

September 29, 2023

Alejandra C. Quintana Arocho on Translating Gabriela Mistral’s Desolación

Gabriela Mistral, born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga in Vicuña, Chile, has fascinated and puzzled scholars, writers, and artists alike for more than a century. Many have tried to weave together the variegated layers of her persona and her “emotionally outspoken verses,”...

September 28, 2023

Ben De Witte and João Nemi Neto on Translating In the Name of Desire

Let the power of desire not be underestimated, capable of moving mountains. —João Silvério Trevisan João Silvério Trevisan published his third novel, In the Name of Desire (originally Em nome do desejo), in 1983 at a time of climactic political...

September 27, 2023

Lily Meyer on Translating Ice for Martians

In Perú, the word marciano has two meanings. It can refer either to a Martian or to a common type of fruit popsicle, which is to say it can be either alien or quotidian. In Claudia Ulloa Donoso’s “Ice for...

September 25, 2023

Eunice Rodríguez Ferguson in Conversation with Hanna Askarpour about Sundial House

In May, an exciting collaboration unfolded between Columbia University Press and Sundial House, a publishing house founded in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at Columbia University. Their mission is to promote and showcase the voices of Latin...

September 22, 2023

Eleven Must-Read Books for Translation Month 2023

September marks National Translation Month, a time to appreciate literature penned in various languages and recognize the intricate art of translating texts into new languages while preserving their essence, tone, and flair. Translators act as gateways, granting us access to...