Mike Fu

The Art of Translation

Tuesday, Dec 16, 2025,12:30 to 2:00 p.m.

This seminar views translation as both a mundane practice and site of creative potential. Together we will examine our entanglements with language and reflect on various ways to conceptualize the act of translation. Short exercises may be deployed to stimulate conversation about the role of the literary translator and the mechanics of conveying ideas or images between different cultural and linguistic lineages.

We will ponder the “untranslatable” and consider whether this veil of impenetrability is more evocative or reductive. Anxieties associated with the craft of translation, critiques of the anglophone publishing world, and other topical concerns will also be explored.

Please note this seminar is the mandatory introduction to an eight-week asynchronous course that runs in the next Project Period.

Required Reading (in Reader):

Snyder, D. P. “Stuck at 3%: Why Can’t We Have More Literature in English Translation?” Lit Mag News, 20 Apr. 2023. litmagnews.substack.com/p/stuck-at-3-why-cant-we-have-more