Talking Translations

Hilary Fannin reads a section of her novel, The Weight of Love. Hilary is joined by Ada Arduini (previous translator-in-residence at Literature Ireland), who reads her newly-commissioned Italian translation of the same excerpt.

For each episode of 'Talking Translations' we pair a story with a language, and ask the author and translator to read their work aloud. Then, we chat to the translator about their experience of working with the text: the challenges they were faced with, the techniques they used to overcome them. In this episode, Ada explains how she translated phrases such as "cherished disasters" and how she developed concepts like "maybe love grows" in her mother tongue. 

It is our hope to share these stories with listeners around the world, heard in languages where the author may not yet be widely published.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. For any queries, or to say hello, please email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is kindly used with permission from David Hilowitz. Music selection and editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Lynsey Reed.

On this episode, Polish translator Aga Zano discusses using Google Maps to describe cities she hasn’t visited, how her love for literary translation began as a kid creating subtitles for cartoons, and why she thinks Megan Nolan is Sally Rooney’s dark twin.  

Aga Zano spent two weeks in Dublin in October 2022 as Literature Ireland's translator-in-residence. During her time here, she worked on Sebastian Barry's upcoming novel Old God's Time.

Women. Poetry. Translation. A Conversation with Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Martina Evans.  

To mark International Translation Day, hear readings and a discussion on Irish poetry and translation. This event was a part of the "Women and Literature" series by the Embassy of Ireland in Latvia, in partnership with Literature Ireland and the National Library of Latvia, where the event took place. This panel discussion included special guests from Ireland and Latvia, as well as a spotlight on Latvian poet Astrīde Ivaska’s time in Ireland. 

Our guests:

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin 

Born 1942 in Cork, Fellow emeritus of Trinity College, Dublin. Ireland Professor of Poetry 2016-19. She has published academic work on the Renaissance and on translation, as well as eleven collections of poetry. Her Collected Poems appeared in 2020 and was awarded the Pigott Prize. She has published translations of poetry from several languages, most recently Dánta Antonella Anedda, translated from Italian into Irish, published by Cois Life in 2019. Lucina Schynning in Silence of the Nicht (poems translated into Chinese) appeared from Sichuan Ethnic Publishing Company, Chengdu, in 2020. With Macdara Woods, Leland Bardwell and Pearse Hutchinson she founded the literary magazine Cyphers and remains its principal editor.

Martina Evans

Martina Evans grew up in County Cork and trained in Dublin as a radiographer before moving to London in 1988. She is the author of twelve books of poetry and prose. Now We Can Talk Openly About Men (Carcanet 2018) was shortlisted for the 2019 Irish Times Poetry Now Award, the Pigott Poetry Prize and the Roehampton Poetry Prize and was an Observer, TLS and Irish Times Book of the Year in 2018. American Mules, (Carcanet 2021) won the Pigott Poetry Prize in 2022. She is a Royal Literary Fund Advisory Fellow and an Irish Times poetry critic.

The conversation was moderated by Dr. philol. Zita Kārkla, a post doc at the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of University of Latvia.

This podcast episode has been released jointly by the National Library of Latvia and Literature Ireland; Literature Ireland's episode is introduced by the Director of Literature Ireland, Sinéad Mac Aodha.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To learn more about what we do, visit Literature Ireland's website. For any queries email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is used with permission from David Hilowitz. Intro sound editing by Ciarán McCann.

As a special episode,  listen to an interview with author Claire Keegan and her Argentinian (Spanish language) translator, Jorge Fondebrider. Sinéad Mac Aodha moderates.

The discussion touches on Claire's latest novel, Small Things Like These; the beginnings of stories; the practice of writing fiction; translation and the relationship between author and translator.

"...It begins when you make an incision in time. Fiction is a temporal art, it's based on time that's irreversibly passing in one direction. A day is a day, it is the same for everyone in every language, no matter where you are or what you're doing. And everybody knows what a days is. And I think maybe that is one of the reasons translation is possible, because of that shared knowledge." -- Claire Keegan

Claire Keegan’s works have been translated into many languages with the support of Literature Ireland, including into German, Slovene, Czech, Bulgarian, French, Spanish (Argentina), Chinese, Polish, Hebrew, Turkish and Swedish. Jorge Fondebrider is an Argentinian poet, critic and translator. Jorge is an active promoter of Irish culture in Latin America. He has translated all of Claire Keegan's books.

This interview was previously released as a YouTube video on Literature Ireland's channel, and has been edited for clarity.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To learn more about what we do, visit Literature Ireland's website. For any queries email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is used with permission from David Hilowitz. Sound editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Lynsey Reed.

The Rules of Revelation, from Cork to Korea. Lisa McInerney reads a section of her third novel, The Rules of Revelation, an extract titled 'Cork is a male kind of place.'  Lisa is joined by Inhwi Jin, who reads her newly-commissioned Korean translation. This episode is in celebration of Brigid's Day in Ireland and the Lunar New Year, connecting Ireland and Korea.

For each episode of 'Talking Translations' we have paired a story with a language, and asked the author and translator to read their work aloud. It is our hope to share these stories with listeners around the world, heard in languages where the author may not yet be widely published.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To read the full text in English and Korean, and to learn more about what we do, visit http://www.literatureireland.com/books/talking-translations-podcast/. For any queries, or to say hello, please email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is used with permission from David Hilowitz. Music selection and editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Lynsey Reed.

Danielle McLaughlin reads a section of her debut novel, The Art of Falling. Danielle is joined by Giovanna Granato, who reads her newly-commissioned Italian translation.

For each episode of 'Talking Translations' we have paired a story with a language, and asked the author and translator to read their work aloud. It is our hope to share these stories with listeners around the world, heard in languages where the author may not yet be widely published.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To read the full text in English and Italian, and to learn more about what we do, visit http://www.literatureireland.com/books/talking-translations-podcast/. For any queries, or to say hello, please email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is kindly used with permission from David Hilowitz. Music selection and editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Lynsey Reed.

Michelle Gallen reads a section of her novel Big Girl, Small Town. Michelle is joined by Clara Ministral who reads her Spanish translation.

For each episode of 'Talking Translations' we have paired a story with a language, and asked the author and translator to read their work aloud. It is our hope to share these stories with listeners around the world, heard in languages where the author may not yet  be widely published.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To read the full text in English and Spanish, and to learn more about what we do, visit http://www.literatureireland.com/books/talking-translations-podcast/. For any queries, or to say hello, please email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is kindly used with permission from David Hilowitz. Music selection and editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Lynsey Reed.

Lucy Caldwell reads her as-yet unpublished short story, 'Fiction'.  Lucy is joined by Polish translator Agnieszka Pokojska, who reads her translation.

For each episode of 'Talking Translations' we have paired a story with a language, and asked the author and translator to read their work aloud. It is our hope to share these stories with listeners around the world, heard in languages where the author may not yet  be widely published.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To read the full text in English and Polish, and to learn more about what we do, visit http://www.literatureireland.com/books/talking-translations-podcast/. For any queries, or to say hello, please email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is kindly used with permission from David Hilowitz. Music selection and editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Lynsey Reed.

Adrian Duncan reads from his novel A Sabbatical in Leipzig. Adrian is joined by Marie Hermet, who reads her French translation from her home in Paris.

For each episode of 'Talking Translations' we have paired a story with a language, and asked the author and translator to read their work aloud. It is our hope to share these stories with listeners around the world, heard in languages where the author may not yet  be widely published.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To read the full text in English and French, and to learn more about what we do, visit http://www.literatureireland.com/books/talking-translations-podcast/. For any queries, or to say hello, please email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is kindly used with permission from David Hilowitz. Music selection and editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Lynsey Reed.

For this Irish language episode, a portion of Mo Bhealach Féin by Seosamh Mac Grianna is read by Damien Ó Dónaill. Micheál Ó hAodah reads from his translation into English, recently published by Lilliput Press as This Road of Mine.

For each episode of 'Talking Translations' we have paired a story with a language, and asked the author and translator to read their work aloud. It is our hope to share these stories with listeners around the world, heard in languages where the author may not yet  be widely published.

Literature Ireland promotes Irish literary authors and their work worldwide and is funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council. To read the full stories in Irish and English, and to learn more about what we do, visit www.literatureireland.com. For any queries, or to say hello, please email [email protected]. The intro/outro music in this series is kindly used with permission from David Hilowitz. Music selection and editing by Ciarán McCann; introduction by Sinéad Mac Aodha, Director of Literature Ireland.