Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Jon Gower on translating his novel Dala’r Llanw / Uncharted

Jon Gower is a Welsh autor who has self-translated his novel Dala’r Llanw (2009) into English as Uncharted (2010) In an essay and an interview he reflects upon his experience, in which he also chose to alter the ending of the novel:

"I usually try to write prose that has a melody and found writing the English translation difficult at first as I was trying to impose the Welsh "music" on the English version, that is until I decided to go with the English music. Adapting the book also gave me a chance to winnow out some weaknesses, and to alter the ending." (interview AmeriCymru)

Continue to read:
Jon Gower: The dynamism of switching between languages
AmeriCymru (2010): An Interview with Welsh Author - Jon Gower

Panel discussion: Translating a self-translation: Epic Annette 8th February

Epic Annette: Podium Discussion with Anne Weber (German-French self-translator) and Tess Lewis (translator of the novel into English),  orga...