On the blog Reading in Translation, translators review translated works. Editor Lucina Schell took the time to share more about Reading in Translation and its goals with Intralingo.

Lisa Carter: You were inspired by the PEN American Center Translation Committee‘s work and Words Without Borders’ series “On Reviewing Translations.” When was the moment you decided to create Reading in Translation?

Lucina Schell: A number of things came together to inspire Reading in Translation, which is now two years old. In 2012, I went to a panel on reviewing translations, held at my alma mater The New School, as part of the PEN World Voices Festival, which included translators, publishers and reviewers from major publications. The translators complained that they were rarely mentioned in reviews except critically or in ubiquitous phrases such as “ably translated by…”; reviewers complained about the challenges of evaluating a translation from a language they don’t know or fitting commentary on the translation into strict word count limits; publishers complained that American readers don’t want to read translations, as a justification for not mentioning translators in publicity materials or reviews. We’ve come a little ways since then, thanks in large part to the advocacy work of the PEN American Center Translation Committee’s work, but these conversations remain pertinent. More.

See: Intralingo

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