Translators Read! A Reading with Professor J. Keith Vincent
September 27th, 6-8pm
Cambridge Public Library
Translators read from their English-language translations of poetry and prose from Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese.
Professor Vincent read an excerpt of his English translation from Japanese of “Devils in Daylight” by Junichiro Tanizaki, which has been shortlisted for the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize by the American Literary Translators Association.
The Prize Committee writes, “Though a mystery novella, Devils in Daylight is as literary as the work of Edgar Allan Poe, whose “Gold Bug” was a major inspiration. Appearing first in 1918, when “everyone” had read Poe’s short story, Devils in Daylight carries that story over into early twentieth-century Japan and then takes it much further than Poe could have imagined possible. The ending will surprise every reader. The translator uses a fluent English to help non-Japanese readers through the suspense, and his afterword fills in much that the English had no choice but to leave behind.”
Announcing the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize Shortlist
Congratulations, Professor Vincent!
