Literary translation workshops
Link the Wor(l)ds

Link the Wor(l)ds ©Link the Wor(l)ds

Online in Yangon, Myanmar
July to October 2022


We are looking to support a young generation interested in literary translation work, and we are looking for new talent. In order to achieve good translation practices in accordance with international standards, this workshop was organized by well-known literary organizations.

For the first time, we offered a German-Myanmar literary translation workshop in 2022, specifically for people who already had B1 German language skills and who were interested in translating German fiction. In order to participate in this workshop, all candidates had to take an online test from which the workshop leader selected 6 candidates.

The translation workshop was led by Ms. Kyithar Swe, who is an experienced translator, trainer and coach for German teachers. Working together with participants, Helene Bukowski's debut novel "Milchzähne" (2019) was translated into Myanmar. This novel was nominated for the Mara Cassens Prize, the Rauris Literature Prize, and the Kranichsteiner Literature Promotion Prize, among others. The novel was also translated into French and English and a film adaptation is in the works. 

During the workshop all the participants worked together with their leader on a consensus translation of a short text from the book "Milchzähne" (2019). The goal of the consensus translation was for the participants to work together on a version of the translation. They had the opportunity to share their ideas and discuss the challenges of translating the text together with the German author.

This project was a collaboration with the Frankfurt Book Fair, Yangon Book Plaza, Singapore Book Council, the National Centre for Writing and Goethe-Institut Myanmar.
 

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