 It's very very nice to see such a full room This is gonna be a very informal session Just to welcome you to also how many people here are actually at the conference for the first time Excellent well Well Welcome very very good to see you here My name is Bill Johnston I'm a translator of Polish a work at Indiana University I've been involved in altar for a number of years and I have found myself the face of altar At these welcome sessions for obvious reasons I should say We are delighted that you're here and The sessions the information you can find mostly in the program, but we we really wanted to welcome you in person I think Mainly because altar is a very particular kind of organization and this is a particular kind of conference and we wanted to In a sense set the the mood From the beginning It's quite a small conference. I don't know exactly how many people are going to be here But it's usually between about 200 and 300, but there's a very Strong sense of community in our organization and at the conference and We wanted above all to let you know that This is a conference in which we all take part together and you should feel Absolutely welcome at all events at and also to kind of come and join us in the bar. I just like to say that that's Something which I can remember from my first altar conferences. I was very shy and a little withdrawn and I didn't really wasn't really sure if I belonged here or or not and over the years I found that this is a very welcoming place the Profession or occupation or art what everyone to call it literary translation is a very particular one in it It's done by very particular people Luckily for us Like I like particular I think But of course as translators we're going to argue over words like that But in any case This is a very informal Conference, it's a very informal organization as well and We really want to emphasize this we've Often described ourselves as the opposite of MLA If anybody's in the MLA, I'm sorry and if you're not don't tell them The MLA is is very large we are very small the MLA is very Stressful Thank you Yes, the the as you as you walk the halls of an MLA convention and you'll notice those young people and All dressed in suits and in their finery Incredibly anxious bad interviews. We don't typically do that here Perhaps because there aren't many jobs in literary translation. I Should not have started that sentence. Anyway The the point is that we do have a An informal way here typically The in the panels we don't read papers. We talk them through We like to leave time for discussion we encourage Questions we encourage comments we encourage feedback We're very much focused on the Craft of translation on the activity of translation Over the years notions of Theory conceptual ideas have come into many of the panels and I think that's a good thing but by and large we are here to talk about the the the simple work of sitting down and Putting a text from one language into another And we found over many many years that that is best done in an atmosphere of conversation collaboration And an atmosphere which encourages participation from everyone who's here now I Also want to stress that that we have translators of every level of Expertise and experience here people who have done dozens and dozens of books people who have who are just Dipping their toe in this vast ocean of translation work We want you all to feel welcome the Conferences is very diverse in terms of age and where people are from and languages and The more we can hear and learn from you and you from us the better things will be In a moment, I'll be introducing one or two specific people, but I really want to encourage you that if you See somebody you would like to talk to go and talk to them We all have a name test. I don't have mine because I arrived too late I wasn't able to register, but I'm Bill so you know that now I Did I did pre-register, but I didn't get here in time for the There are two signs downstairs, and they say one of them says it's this way one of them says it's that way It was very confused. I have to say the semiotics are overwhelming Anyway, that's who I am and I will get my name tag, but Everyone in the organization is approachable if you see somebody who translates from the language that you translate from or simply whose name You know from a book that you've read Just go up and say hello. Everyone always appreciates that I want to encourage you specifically to Make the best of the conference while you're here. There's a great diversity of events here We have the panels and the panels themselves are amazingly diverse. They cover all kinds of different languages genres. You'll see Really, it's a wonderful wonderful program this year, but not only that we Several years ago many years ago actually The translators here decided that Because we like actually working we also like sharing our work And the bilingual readings were born in that way and they've continued you'll see in the program There's an incredibly rich array of Readings in that series. Please go and attend them This is a way that we have of sharing our work with one another at this venue I encourage you for the same reason by the way to check out the book exhibits those of you who Don't live in a city that's that's Blessed with a good bookstore will know that the kinds of books that we're talking about the kinds of publications We're talking about and not often widely available and this book exhibit gathers together a lot of books that you will probably not Find in your local bookstore many of them by Translators translated by translators here at the conference. So please make good use of that We also have a number of other events We have the altar fellows program. Do we have our fellows here? congratulations Well done. It's great to have you here and We look forward to the reading many of these events as you'll have realized that like the the fellows reading our Whole conference events and this is another reason why at a smaller conference like this and a more intimate one We can actually come together and all experience the same thing So we have the fellows reading we have the the NTA award, which is this evening Russell. Is that right? and a reading by the Translators from the long list tomorrow. We have the declassion Is anybody here qualified to speak about that? I'm not really Marion It's it's a it's a social event As far as the bilingual readings bill hasn't been there isn't this old but they originally started because Declamation it's kind of arcane rules But basically it's based on the Spanish tradition of reading Generally And sometimes people sing Performing and it's amazing And there's some work rules about you can't recite your own Translation But the main thing is you have to memorize it so things deteriorate towards the end And that they learned some time when they were children. But it is quite wonderful, and often very beautiful. So I highly recommend that, if you're going to go on Friday night, it's worth staying up for. And even, you know, they need an audience to do it. You don't have to do it. You don't have to do it. And so, Mike, if you get the nerve up towards the editing, you may do it, too. Thanks very much. We also have a special bilingual reading that's called Café Latino, which is taking place tonight. Thank you. All this information is in the program, but I want to emphasize that people actually go to stuff. And that is actually why we come to the conference, which also distinguishes it from many other conferences that we may have attended. So at this point, I wanted to introduce some of the luminaries, dare I say, of the organization. People on the show. Many of us are interested in talking about the new people. Sometimes having an idiot. Good. Thank you. Yeah. That's more of an idiot. Jim Cates, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah, notice he doesn't have a name tag either, though. That's a funny expression. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard that story. Well, so let's pass begin by introducing our board. First of all, we have Russell Valentino, who is the president of ALTA. And to my great fortune, my colleague at Indiana University, who else is on the board here? Can you stand up if you're not already standing up and say who you are? It's an in-group, but it is true. It starts to feel a little like North Korea at times, isn't it? OK, so follow me. Am I forgetting anything? I mean, I'm almost certainly forgetting something. No, no, to do, I know. Yeah, but just like an actual information. Yeah, it's not. Yes, Jim. Yeah, I would say to loopy, push together a part of the team. The mix, we are eager not to be cliquish with our old people because we don't have a lot of questions for the mixing match, and we need the active participation in seeing us out and jumping on up to. Thank you, yeah, that's a very good point. Well, this might be a good moment. I think we have enough time to do very, very quick introductions all around. And this is also a moment where you might begin to make connections with other translators working in the same areas, the same genre, the same language, whatever. If you just want to say your name, language, any other bit of information that you would like to provide, given that we have a fairly full room. I think we can do this, though, because I think we are good at being lapidary in our work. Do you want to begin over here? OK. I just think you're having a bad day, so I wrote. Thank you very much. Thank you. Over here. I came here from Moscow, I live in Russia. And my most famous and most beloved book is Each Shoots and Leaves from Moscow. Thank you. Good morning, my name is Michael Holtman. I'm the director of the Center for the Art of Translation and Two Lights Press in San Francisco. You'll see my colleagues, Olivia Sears, Scott Esposito, and Barbara Paschke. They're kind of our team. But I'm not a translator myself, although I do have bits and pieces of several languages. But I look forward to hearing about your work during this. Thanks. OK. I'm Night Booker Bean. I'm, this is my first conference. And I translate from Catalan and Spanish. And here's how it goes. Oh, OK. I'm Louise Fuller. And I translate from French, with a particular interest in French-Canadian literature. Thank you. My name's Sean Bay. I translate from Polish. And I'm also the head of literature programming at the Polish Cultural Institute in New York. Cool. I'm Julia. I translate from Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Catalan. And I live in New York. Thank you. Hi, I'm Derek Madder. And I translate Turkish poetry. And I am an MFA candidate poetry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Excellent. Let's go over here, now. That's Cedar. I come from Spanish and German. And I'm working on the collective works of other languages, so. OK. I always mess up next to you. It's your personal management system. My name's Kainan Morse. I translate from Chinese. I, with a group of other people, founded a magazine called Pathlight New Chinese Right. And worked with a group called Paper Republic, which introduces Chinese literature to the world, along with city. I translate poetry, as well as fiction, working on a book for a jittery young New York group who's now. Cool. Thank you very much. Mary, I'm going to go over here. That's a Russian. I have a new ad for that, a translation out. It's in the book exhibit. And I'm working on social media tonight. OK. So I'm a course driver. I already teach myself how to translate from Russian and Serbian and Croatian. Hi, my name is Simon. I'm from the core. But I'm doing a PhD program in the University of Ottawa in translation studies. My field of translation is from Croatian to English, and especially Canadian fiction, Canadian English. Thank you. My name is Jacob Siebring. And I'm a French to English translator. I'm currently working on a work by Pierre Sange, a contemporary French author. It's kind of a historical novel, let's say. Cool. Thank you. Christina Kramer, I translate from the Macedonian. And I'm looking for an app so I can find the other ones of you in the room. This is it. This is the app. I'm currently translating two things I've finished on it by the one thorough recall. Half of the eels translated from the Macedonian with reference to his Albanian. And a spare life by Lydia Dinkovsko, which is one of last year's wonders of your creation. Thank you. I'm Sandy Kangeri. I translate from Spanish prose and poetry to English. Thanks. I'm Gene Durrani. I translate from French. And I'm finishing up a novel right now called Leopard Boy by Daniel P. P. Thank you. I'm Cindy Carter. I translate from the Chinese and the Abolabit in Japanese manga. For the last 17 years, I've been living as a freelancer, working as a freelance translator in China. I do fiction, poetry, and a lot of indie films. So if you're interested in Chinese indie films, please talk to me. Thanks very much. Let's go over here. Can we go around this table here? Start with Aaron, maybe. Aaron, I translate from Turkish. Thank you. I'm from Milwaukee, but I've been living in Spain for the last 18 years. I translate from Spanish. I'll be participating in a bilingual reading with my first literary translation to my this afternoon. Excellent. Congratulations. I'm Taj Shrekenthaler. I'm from Milwaukee also. And I translate from Spanish and Portuguese. Thank you. I'm Dustin Lovett. I'm from St. Louis. I was actually a fellow in 2010, but I've not been able to get back since. So this is close enough to my first time. Right now, I'm working on a book from Olga Mark-Nova. I'm looking for publishers. If any of the publishers are interested in experimental German fiction, I don't think so. I'm Vince Quing. I'm from Philadelphia. And I'm quite a big part of this app because it's my first time here. I translate from German. Specifically, Austrian authors mostly. And right now, I'm working on those that are not really suitable for New Yorker view books. Cool. I'm Jeff Howes. I'm from Bowling, Ohio. I translate from German. And I also specialize in Austrian. What's the chances of that? And it's the app. They work really well. It's in Macedonia. And I'm pretty sure that my translator's copies of my translation of Robert Musel's Three Women are arriving in Bowling Green right now. Not quite in time for that. I'm Jill Timbers. I translate from Finnish. And I got hooked on Alta back in the 80s. Hi, I'm Zev Duckworth. I'm from Amsterdam. And I translate between Dutch, Yiddish, and French. Thank you. Can we go across the back wall now? Maybe start over there? You said Alta. I was also in 2012. Alta, so it's kind of like a beginner. Oh, it's a beginner. And I translate from the vehicles. I'm Elevee Laius Borsach. I live in Boston. And I translate from Bosnian and Croatian Serbian. And I'm a contributing editor to Ascento Joe. OK. My name is Mary Jane White. I'm from Iowa. I have an MFA in poetry from the Writers Workshop. And I'm a double-edged fellow in poetry and translation. I translate for me as with Tyra. And I'm going to try to translate from Icelandic and Arabic. So I'm working on an Arabic novel and a book of Icelandic poetry, both of which are based on true crime. And my big job as a travel attorney. My name is Mubarak Serifian. I translate from English, French, and Arabic. And I have two translations already. Hi, I'm Maria Felly. I translate from Spanish into English. I'm also from Milwaukee. But I'm currently incorporating my translations into my dissertation. And I'm finishing at UNC Chagokro. Thank you. My name is Max Uski. I'm originally from Madison, Wisconsin. But for the last four years, I've lived in Damascus, Barcelona, and Aleppo. I'm not a Cairo fanatic. And I translate from Arabic Spanish into English. I'll tell you the same thing. I'm going to be originally from New York Street, New Jersey. This is going to fail. I'm going to be the past president. I'm a review editor for translation. I'm a translator from Spanish with a special interest in me or Iran. Thank you. Can we go to this table here now? We're in the west. But if you welcome me in person, you can accommodate. I translate mainly from German, Spanish, and Catalan. My current project is a novel called Fortunes by the poet Paraginter. Thank you. Alexander Dicow. I translate mainly from French to English, although I've done a few in the other directions. And if anyone knows how I can get Swiss Enterprises to publish my translation of the Morax into French. I'll do that. Thank you. I'm an Estatian at Kozak. I translate from the Russian. But I'm on my theories these days, doing a PhD on translation and new media. OK. I'm Spencer Santos. I'm a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa. I'm also an MFA student in the Romans translation program there. I translate primarily from old English, early Middle English, Spanish, old and modern, and Icelandic. And I also go the other way with Spanish. Thank you. Hi. My name's Nick. I'm a PhD student at Penn State. And I translate from Turkish and Kurdish. Thank you. Hi, I'm Christiana Hills. I translate from French into English with a special interest in experimental prose. And I'm currently a PhD student at Binghamton University in translation. Thank you. Sorry, I'm Norwich. I'm coming from Queens. I'm a fellow. And I translate from Kurdish. Thank you. Hi, I'm Tenzin Dickey. You can call me Dickey. I'm a PhD student in English. And mostly I'm doing contemporary Tibetan poetry right now. Oh, fellow. Thank you. Hi, everyone. My name is Annie Tucker. I'm a third fellow in the row. And I translate from the Indonesian just to finish my first novel. I'm working on some short stories, culinary things, short stories. Okay, let's go over here. Ladies at the back there. So I translate from Polish into English. And I'm one of the tiny British contingents here from Wilcox. Quite fake Americans standing there. I can use you to be a British poet. He's turned his back on us. I translate a lot of different things, including fiction, lots of recordage, children's books, some poetry. And I'm going to be co-chairing the UK Tronflayers Association from next year with Nicky Harman. So that's also part of what I'm doing. Thank you. Hi, I'm Annalisa Fernandez. And I translate from Portuguese and Spanish to English. And I'm a student in translation at UWM. Thank you. Let's go to this table. Let's begin. Yeah, please, that's good. I'm Rachel Wilson-Broyles. And I'm the secretary-teacher of a small group called Swedish Translators over America. Cool. Thank you. Hi, my name is Ema Gillespie. I'm originally from Belfast, but I live in London. I am a poet and a novelist and co-founder of a group called It for Us. So a group that's going to the National Art Gallery and work with exhibitions there to produce collections of poetry. I'm currently a PhD candidate at the University of Kent. And I am one-third of the way through of translating Dante's Commedia. I'm Armin Mortimer. I translate from French. I'm retired from the University of Illinois as a professor of French literature. I've been working very steadily on novels by Philippe Solaus. I've translated three of his novels and three of his essay books. One of those is published. And I'm also working on a very experimental novelist named Véronique Tachel. And I would love to find it on the show for that. I'm Loïc Foyer-Leh, originally from Brooklyn, but now from Portland, Oregon. And I translated German to English. Thank you. Russell Valentino. I'm the ultimate president, which you can see from the quality things that are just tacked out in my bag. Next year, we're going to go with Epilept. I'm Bill's colleague at the Indian University of Estates from Russian, Italian, and Baltic Creation Survey. I'm Laudas and Transylvania, and I'm originally from Uruguay, but I'm in CU Boulder right now. There are a few students that I can meet. And I translate from Spanish and Portuguese. And right now, I'm working on a translation of one of the poetry books by the Brazilian author, Mule D'Agostino. I'm Katherine Jago. I'm originally from Britain, and I've been living in Madison, Wisconsin for several decades. I'm a poet and a finance translator, and I translate from Spanish and Catalan into English. And I have been to a altar before 25 years ago, but I found it so terrifying that I came back. Listen to her! Good morning, and thank you for your patience. My name is Michael Meggs. I'm from Austin, Texas. I translate from Swedish, Spanish, and French, and I operate a website that's dedicated to theater in Central Texas, specifically Austin and San Antonio. Thank you. To the gentleman over there, did you introduce yourself? You did. Good. Okay. Let's go to this table here, and I think... I'm Alison Schreit. Again, a book number. I translate from French with an interest in fiction from Madagascar. And for those of you who are just going to say, I also run an online reserve called the Emerging Literary Translators Network in America, a support group online, so if you're interested... Jim Cates, mostly French and Russian, and Zephyr Press, and by a rough count, there are four people in this room who have books published by Zephyr Press. I'm Jeff Barnett. I'm right in the center, so I don't know. Sorry, I got you. I'm from Washington League University. I don't translate from Spanish, rather from Cuban, a little bit of nuances. This thing I keep paying around with me is my newborn infant that just came out about two days ago, which is my book, and it's not my first one, so if you see me holding it tightly, tell me to please loosen my grip. Thank you for being here. Congratulations. My name is Eddie Song. I translate from English to Chinese. I've translated Philip Rod, John Lotare, Jonathan Brighton than any crew, and Stephen King, Dan Brown, so much. Wow. My name is Gabriel Saxon Ruiz. I translate from Spanish. Mainly contemporary Peruvian literature. It's been my latest projects, and I teach at the University of Wisconsin. This is kind of warm for me right now. Steve Snyder. I translate contemporary Japanese fiction, and I teach at Middlebury College, and as of July 1st, I find myself in a strange position of being Dean of our 11 summer language school. Translation is completely forbidden because it's a language self-project, which I hope can help you is to introduce translation. Yay. I think we have one newcomer. So now you know everyone. That's it. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask me, Russell, any of the board members, any of the more experienced alter-goers. We would love to talk to you. Please do come and introduce yourselves one more time. Come to the sessions. Come to the readings. Come to the events. Enjoy yourselves. That's it. That's it. Thank you very much for coming. Thank you. Thank you. I think if we go down one floor, down these two steps.