What’s New at TransStar?
Local Workshops and Readings in the Autumn
The first TransStar autumn workshop took place on the 11th and 12th of September. The German-Ukrainian group met with their leader Jurko Prokhasko in Lviv. They discussed translations of texts by Ralf Rothmann, Yoko Tawada, Silke Scheuermann and Felicitas Hoppe. The group let the legendary coffee house atmosphere of the city be an inspiration and visited events taking place within the framework of the Lviv Book Forum which also took place during this time.
Until December the other TransStar work groups meet with their workshop leaders in different European locations, amongst others in Bern, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Graz, Berlin and Dominikowo. The next workshop will be organized by the German-Polish group where they will meet with their leader Sława Lisiecka on the 28th and 29th of September in Berlin.
On the 25th of November the translators of the Czech-German group will introduce the Czech authors Jan Balabán, Jakoba Katalpa, Michal Ajvaz and Alena Zemančiková in a reading at the Institute of Literary Translation at the Heinrich Heine University at Düsseldorf. Their working group will meet in Düsseldorf under the leadership of Kristina Kallert.
First Translations Published
In the September edition of the journal LICHTUNGEN the first translations of our project were published. You will read of the confusion of the German Lukan in Croatia in an excerpt from the novel Die Begegnung [The Encounter] by Ludwig Bauer, translated by Paul Gruber, you will find the poem Fick dich, Ginsberg [Fuck You, Ginsberg] by Katja Perat, translated from Slovenian by Daniela Trieb. You will become acquainted with a part of the Ukraine in an excerpt from the essay Hotel Ukrajina by Yury Izdryk, translated by Sofia Onufriv, and the short story Wie ein Obdachloser [Like a Homeless Person] by Alena Zemančíková and translated from Czech by Daniela Pusch, takes us to the post-war Prague. In the excerpt from Ignacy Karpowicz’s novel Balladynen und Romanzen [Balladynes and Romances], translated from Polish by Katharina Kowarczyk you will encounter Jesus and the Gods of Antiquity in the 21st century.
All About Translation
The website of TransStar has been online since May of 2013. You will find the site at: www.transstar-europa.org.
On this page you will find information on the project and the partners as well as notifications of and reports on events. A further column is dedicated to the translator of the month. On a monthly basis TransStar participants will introduce another translator. In this way a colourful mosaic of literary translators of Europe will come into being. In the month of September you will be able to read a portrait oft he Croatian translator Sead Muhamedagić who amongst others translated Thomas Bernhard into Croatian.
Also on our website at http://transstar-europa.org/category/blog/ you will find out more about theory and practice on our blog “all you’d want to know about literary translation”, where Janko Trupej in his latest article writes on Cicero’s, Hieronymus’ and Luther’s views on translation.
The forum area is accessible by participants and workshop leaders as well as by an interested audience: this is where one can exchange information on a variety of subjects related to literature and translation.
It is also worth visiting our Facebook profile. In addition to information on activities of our participants and pictures, you will also find a great number of current announcements for stipends in the field of translation and cultural exchange, for positions in academia and other transcultural activities.
Hieronymus Day on the 30th of September
On the 30th of September we celebrate Hieronymus Day. It is assumed that the holy Hieronymus was born around 347 somewhere in Southeastern Europe. After his academic studies in literature and philosophy in Rome, he learned Hebrew as a hermit. Later he retreated into a monastery where he translated and compiled the biblical books. The total collection, translation and arrangement of biblical books by Hieronymus is the transcription of the bible later referred to as the Vulgate and is still today – at least for the Catholic Church – the authorative Latin version of the bible. For this reason Hieronymus is the patron of translators.
On the occasion of the Hieronymus day on the 30th of September, you will find more information on the Internet about a little competition we are organizing underhttp://transstar-europa.org/wettbewerb-zum-diesjahrigen-hieronymus-tag/. Participate and win a wall calendar for the year 2014.
Publications of our workshop leaders in the last half year (selection)
Daniela Kocmut
- Zofka Kveder. Her Life. (Njeno življenje), (Novel) for the series Slowenische Bibliothek, a cooperation between the Drava, Hermagoras and Wieser publishing houses, March 2013
- Zenel Bejta Zeki. Dad so rovela? Oče, zakaj jočeš? [Dad, why are you crying?] (Poems, Publication in Slovenian, German, Romani) Literary Association of Maribor, July 2013 (Series Zbirka Mariborska literarna družba; 62)
Olaf Kühl
- Der wahre Sohn. [The True Son] Rowohlt, 2013.
- Witold Gombrowicz. Berliner Notizen. [Witold Gombrowicz. Berlin Notes] Translated and with a foreword. Edition fototapeta, 2013.
Alida Bremer
- Olivas Garten. [Oliva’s Garden] Bastei Lübbe, 2013.
Kristina Kallert
- Jiří Langer. Die neun Tore. [Jiří Langer. Nine Gates] Second edition. Arco Verlag Wuppertal.
Claudia Dathe
- Maria Matios. Darina, die Süße. (Солодка Даруся) [Sweet Darina]. Haymon-Verlag, 2013.
Matthias Jacob
- Zvonko Karanović: Burn, baby burn. Selected Poems. Izabrane pjesme. Translated from Serbian by Alida Bremer and Matthias Jacob. Drava Verlag Klagenfurt 2012.
Andy Jelčić
- W.G. Sebald. Prema prirodi. [After Nature] Vuković & Runjić, Zagreb, 2013.
- Robert Musil. Čovjek bez osobina 2, [The Man Without Qualities] Fraktura, Zaprešić, 2013.
Radovan Charvát
- Thomas Glavinic: Láska Carla Haffnera k remízám. [Carl Haffner’s Love for the Undecided]. Paseka, 2013.
Sława Lisiecka
- Uwe Johnson. Dziś, w dziewięćdziesiątą rocznicę. [Ninety Years Today]. OD DO Verlag, Łódź, 2013.
- Marianne Gruber. Stacja pośrednia. [Way Station]. PIW Publishers Warsaw, 2013.
- Tilman Röhrig. Tajemnica Caravaggia. (Caravaggio’s Secret). MUZA Publishers, Warsaw 2013.
The Translators from LICHTUNGEN
Paul Gruber
Born 1984 in Graz, he studied Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian to become a teacher. He spent a semester abroad and worked as a language assistant for German in Belgrade. His first literary translations he completed during the summer course of lectures in Permuda.
Daniela Trieb
She completed her BA studies in Slavic and German Studies in Tübingen, and her MA in Slovenian Studies in Graz. Her semester abroad was spent in Ljubljana. She participated in the summer course of lectures „Literary Translation Slovenian German“ of the ITAT Graz as well as the workshop „Literary Translation from Slovenian into German“ of the University of Hamburg.
Sofia Onufriv
She was born in 1970 in Lviv and there studied German and Publishing Studies. Currently she is a freelance interpreter and translator, cultural manager and mediator as well as travel guide (www.eol-reisen.de). She is a member of the translator association “Translit” (www.translit-portal.de).
Daniela Pusch
She was born in 1978 in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic and raised in Germany. In Marburg, Moscow and Brno she studied Slavic and Media Studies. Since 2004 she lives in Düsseldorf with her family. She works as a city guide, teaches languages and volunteers reading foreign-language stories to children.
Katharina Kowarczyk
In 1982 she was born close to Katowice in Poland. She studied Polish Studies and Philosophy at the University of Hamburg. Her MA thesis „Analyses of the German Polish Literary Translation. Ignacy Karpowicz’s Balladyny i romanse“ was awarded the sponsorship award by the ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Germany. She is a translator from Polish. Since 1989 she lives in Hamburg.
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