Murakami, Contemporary Japanese Writing and the English-reading Marketplace

Translation Workshop at Newcastle University, March 6-7, 2018

The School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University (UK) is hosting an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project on Murakami Haruki. Available in translations into more than 50 languages, Murakami’s texts are read around the world. Translating from one language into another is rarely straightforward, but a complicated process in which translators, editors and publishers make choices that inevitably impact the new text. Professional and aspiring translators of Japanese literature are invited to participate in a two-day translation workshop that will seek to explore issues in the processes of literary translation.

Application deadline: 30-11-2017 

Intended as a practice-based space, the workshop will be led by two established translators of Japanese literature, Dr Michael Emmerich (UCLA) and Dr David Karashima (Waseda University) in collaboration with translation editor and publishing consultant Elmer Luke. Limited to approximately 10 participants, the workshop will look at the process of translating Murakami’s texts and other contemporary Japanese writing for the English-reading marketplace.

In addition to the practice-based sessions, there will also be several public lectures by translators and scholars of Japanese literature, including two translators of Murakami, Emeritus Professor Jay Rubin (Harvard University) and Dr Anna Zielinska-Elliott (Boston University).

Participants will also be able to attend events related to the Murakami project that are scheduled to take place the same week as the workshop. These include the academic conference 40 years with Murakami Haruki, film screenings and an art exhibition. The full program and further information about the entire AHRC-funded project is available at http://research.ncl.ac.uk/murakami/.

The workshop is free of charge and the School of Modern Languages is generously offering to reimburse accepted participants up to £200 towards travel and accommodation. To apply, please fill in the application form available at http://forms.ncl.ac.uk/view.php?id=12668 by November 30, 2017. Applicants will be notified of the outcome in due course after this date.

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