The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing at Reading University and Outside in World has been running a series of Webinars on children's books in translation
In Case you missed the webinar - Balam and Lluvia’s House: Translating Poetry for Children on 20th July you can watch and listen to the recording here
Balam and Lluvia’s House: Translating Poetry for Children
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing in partnership with Outside in World are delighted to announce the latest event in their seminar series on translation for children:
This online event will take place on Thursday 20th July at 5.30 pm UK time. It is free and open to all, register with the Eventbrite link here
Balam and Lluvia are siblings who catch fireflies, bid farewell to their pet fish in the bathroom, and wait for Ratón Pérez to collect their teeth. In Balam and Lluvia’s House, the secret tastes and sounds of the everyday are waiting to be found.
To celebrate the publication of Balam and Lluvia’s House, written by Julio Serrano Echeverría, illustrated by Yolanda Mosquera and translated by Lawrence Schimel (Emma Press, 2023) and a PEN Translates Award winner, we will be talking to the publisher, author and translator. We will be asking them all about the book, how it was written, how it came to be translated into English, and the joys of translating poetry.
Georgia Wall is the publishing manager at The Emma Press, an independent publishing house based in Birmingham, UK, which aims to make literature and publishing as welcoming and accessible as possible. The Emma Press was founded in 2021 by Emma Dai’an Wright and specialises in poetry, short fiction, essays and children’s books.
Julio Serrano Echeverría is a Guatemalan writer, poet, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of mixed Mestizo, African and Mayan descent. He has held fellowships from the Fundación Carolina, the Iberoamerican Artists Residence FONCA-AECID and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in the US, where he has also been artist in residence and lectures regularly on poetry and Latin American culture. His poetry collections include Tierra, Antes del mar, Estados de la materia, Central Ámerica, and his children’s books include En botas de astronauta and Dos cabezas para meter un gol. He was one of the founders of the Quetzaltenango International Poetry Festival.
He received the 2022 Premio Gabo, the most prestigious award for Latin American journalism, for his work as co-founder and creative coordinator of Agencia Ocote, an interdisciplinary Guatemalan digital media outlet that views journalism in dialogue with art, historic memory, transitional justice and women’s rights. He has participated in many international poetry festivals, and his work is also translated into Bengali, English, French and the Mayan languages Q´eqchí, K´iche’, and Kaqchikel.
Lawrence Schimel (New York City, 1971) is a full-time author, writing in both Spanish and English, who has published over 130 books in a wide range of genres. His picture books have won a Crystal Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a White Raven from the International Youth Library in Munich, and have been chosen by IBBY for Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities (three times), among other honors.
His writings have been translated into over fifty languages, including Icelandic, Maltese, Farsi, Kurdish, Basque, Luxembourgish, Changana, Romansch, and Japanese. In addition to his own writing, he is a prolific literary translator, primarily into English and into Spanish, who has published over 150 books.
His translations into English have won a Batchelder Honor from the American Library Association, a PEN Translates Award from English PEN (three times), a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship (with Layla Benitez-James), and was Highly Commended in the CLiPPA, among other honors. He started the Spain chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and served as its Regional Advisor for five years. He also coordinated the International SCBWI Conference in Madrid and the first two SCBWI-Bologna Book Fair conferences. He lives in Madrid, Spain.
In case you missed the Multisensory translation for children: Mirror by Jeannie Baker as a soundscape audiobook on 27th June you can listen to the recording of the webinar here.
Multisensory translation for children: Mirror by Jeannie Baker as a soundscape audiobook
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing in partnership with Outside in World are delighted to announce the latest event in their seminar series on translation for children:
This online event will take place on Tuesday 27th June at 5pm UK time. It is free and open to all, register with the Eventbrite link here:
CBCP and OIW will be in conversation with Rafaela Lemos, translator, and Nuno Bento, sound artist, about their project to translate the picture book Mirror by Jeannie Baker (Walker Books, 2010) into a soundscape audiobook, aimed especially at visually impaired Portuguese children.
Rafaela Lemos - Born and raised in Portugal, Rafaela Lemos has always been a creative mind. After completing a Modern Languages BA (Spanish and Mandarin) University of Hull, with First Class Honours, she moved to London where she completed a Masters in Audiovisual Translation from the University of Roehampton. She is currently working as a Localisation Producer for a children’s media entertainment company and as a freelance illustrator and audiovisual translator.
Nuno Bento - Foley artist and sound designer from Lisbon, Portugal: you can find out all about his award-winning work in film and game design here:
In case you missed the G-Book Project. Literature for children and YAs from a gender perspective: literary and translation issues webinar on 25th January you can listen to the recording and find the bibliography here
The G-Book Project. Literature for children and YAs from a gender perspective: literary and
translation issues
You are warmly invited to join us for the next talk in the CBCP and Outside in World Webinar series on Children’s Literature and Translation for 2023.
We are delighted to welcome a team of speakers from the European G-Book projects Valeria Illuminati, Roberta Pederzoli, and Beatrice Spallaccia (all from the University of Bologna, MeTRa Centre - Research Centre on Mediation and Translation by and for Children and Young Adults), on Wednesday 25th January, at 5pm UK time. Register for your Zoom link here. The webinar is free and open to all: please do share widely!
The projects G-BOOK 1 and 2 (Gender Identity: Child Readers and Library Collections and European teens as readers and creators in gender-positive narratives) aim to promote gender-positive children’s and young adult literature in terms of roles and models, a literature that is open-minded, plural, varied, free from stereotypes, and that encourages respect and diversity. The first part of the webinar will develop a critical-theoretical reflection on literature for children and young adults from a gender perspective and on its translation. In particular, we will discuss:
• gender representations and stereotypes
• families
• male and female characters
• LGBTQ+ issues
• and the G-BOOK European projects.
The second part will explore case studies of LGBTQ+ themed illustrated books in English and French translated into Italian. We will analyze both the paratext and the text itself, showing how in the transfer from one language and culture to another there are some shifts and changes, which are not necessarily questionable, but however, present the source text in a new light and produce a different effect on the target reader.
In case you missed Dr Catherine Butler's 'Studio Ghibli and British Children's Literature in Japan talk on 13 December here is the link.
Dr Catherine Butler (Cardiff) 'Studio Ghibli and British Children’s
Literature in Japan'
Tuesday 13th December, 5pm UK time
You are warmly invited to join us for the first in the Centre for Book Cultures x Outside in World webinar series on children’s books in translation for 2022/3.
We are delighted to welcome Catherine Butler from Cardiff University (UK), who will be speaking on her research on British children’s literature in Japanese culture, on Tuesday 13th December at 5pm UK time. Register for your free Zoom link here.
To celebrate the theme of Japanese/ English connections, you can find out more about Japanese children’s literature in English translation with Outside in World’s Spotlight on Japan
Hayao Miyazaki has had a lifelong interest in British children’s literature, and an influential role in popularising it in Japan, notably through the animations he created at Studio Ghibli. In this talk I will discuss some aspects of that contribution, and that of directors whom Miyazaki directly influenced, especially his protogé, Hiromasa Yonebayashi. But I will also ask two questions: why does Hayao Miyazaki, who loves British children’s books and has adapted several, never used Britain as a setting? And what are the consequences of taking a story from one setting and medium and putting it into another?
Dr Catherine Butler is Reader in English Literature at Cardiff University. Her academic books include Four British Fantasists (2006), Reading History in Children’s Books (with Hallie O’Donovan, 2012) and Literary Studies Deconstructed (2018), and several edited collections. Her latest book, British Children’s Literature in Japanese Culture: Wonderlands and Looking-Glasses, is due to be published by Bloomsbury in 2023. She has also published six novels for children and teenagers. Catherine is Editor-in-Chief of Children’s Literature in Education.
Five go to France: Panel discussion with the editor and translator
This online panel event to mark the publication of Hachette’s new Famous Five graphic novel series took place on Thursday 10 March 2022 but you can catch up and watch it here.
The Speakers included:
Alexandra Antscherl (Editorial Director, Enid Blyton Entertainment and Fiction Brands at Hachette Children's Group)
Emma D. Page (Translator, PhD student at the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing, University of Reading)
Chair - Sophie Heywood (Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing, University of Reading)
The panel explored the new Famous Five series retold as graphic novels for the first time ever. The series translates back into English the French adaptation of Blyton’s novels by Béja and Nataël, a talented father-and-son team of graphic novel experts. Together the speakers discussed the French and English books, the translation process, and publishing Blyton in the 21st century.
In case you missed Read the World: Picture Books and Translation on 3rd February 2022 the recording of the webinar has now been edited and uploaded to youtube here:
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (Amherst, Massachusetts, USA) currently has an exhibition Read the World: Picture Books and Translation that highlights the role of translators showcases multilingual books and introduces readers to recent English translations and their publishers. Join Professor Regina Galasso (UMass Amherst), Caroline Seitz (Amherst College), Education Director Courtney Waring (The Carle) and Literacy Educator David Feinstein (The Carle) as they share themes and highlights from the exhibition, and discuss their process of curating and creating interpretive materials for young readers.
In case you missed the two held in 2021 here are the details and links.
Translation Outreach in Schools and the Move Online
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing and the Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism at the University of Reading, in partnership with Outside in World webinar.
This event was aimed at teachers of languages across primary and secondary schools, covering both Modern Foreign Languages and work with learners who have English as an Additional Language. It will also appeal to librarians, educators and all who are interested in translation for children. Participants will learn about some of the major initiatives being led in schools to promote multilingualism and intercultural awareness and discuss this with some of the leading translators and organisations currently working on translation for/with children.
The Speakers included:
Chair: Clémentine Beauvais (Author, academic and translator, University of York)
Sarah Ardizzone (Translator, critic and journalist)
Charlotte Ryland (Director, Stephen Spender Trust)
Gitanjali Patel (Director, Shadow Heroes)
Greet Pauwelijn (Book Island Publisher).
- watch the recording here:
- A list of links and references from the event were compiled which you can see here:
Around the World in 18 Books
The recording of Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp’s talk Around the World in 18 Books: An introduction to literary translation in children’s and YA publishing is now available to watch here.
You can also access the handout with details on the books discussed and links to organisations and resources on children’s literature in translation.
Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, Literary translator (Arabic, German, Russian) and diversity in publishing activist with WorldKidLit
Introduced by Patricia Billings, co-founder of Milet Publishing, author of bilingual children’s books, and a trustee of Outside in World
