Discussing Translation at the Japan/America Writers’ Dialogue

ON October 18, 2014 2:54 am

On Wednesday, October 15th at USC, Japanese authors and literature specialists came together to discuss the complexities of translation. The evening included two discussions. In “Baiting the Hook,” translators Michael Emmerich, Andrew Leong (translator of Lament in the Night), and Motoyuki Shibata discussed the tricky art of translating between Japanese and English. They explored the voices and identities of the translators and pondered the classification of certain works as “originals,” themselves being translations of reality and the imagination. “Baiting the Hook” was followed by a discussion between authors published by Monkey Business–Hideo Furukawa, Hiromi Ito, and Tomoka Shibasaki. Each performed a reading of their works and shared invaluable insight into their writing processes and personal perspectives. Given that each author traveled from Japan to participate in this discussion, it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event!

We are so grateful to the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions & Culture for working with us to organize this enlightening discussion. Enormous thanks to Kaya’s own Andrew Leong and all authors and translators affiliated with Monkey Business for a spectacular evening!