At our next general membership meeting, Tony Beckwith will talk about the origin of writing, the reasons for writing, and how writing is part of a translator's job.

Tony has been a member of AATIA for about 15 years. He is a writer and translator whose articles and stories were a regular feature of The Letter, the newsletter we used to have before we went digital. He writes a column for Source, the online journal of the ATA's Literary Division.

Marian Schwartz, will also give us details about an exciting activity programmed by the AATIA Literary Special Interest Group.

Join us Saturday, Sept. 11th from 1-4 pm at our downtown ICA location, on the Skillpoint side, for this interesting lecture and networking session with the pros in our field and you will also enjoy deliciously cool refreshments.

AATIA Headquarters is located at 201 East 2nd Street. Free parking is available at the Convention Center parking garage, which is on the west side of the building that houses our offices. Enter from Brazos Street, inform the attendant that you are attending an AATIA event, and sign a garage parking record sheet. There is no charge.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Carolina Modesto
Director of Professional Development

Features include cartoons and a column on “My Mother Tongue” by our own Tony Beckwith; an article by Betty De Shong Meador describing her encounter nel mezzo del cammin della sua vita with the “willful, outrageous, sexy Sumerian goddess Inanna”; Ann Cefola’s translation of a poem by Hélène Sanguinetti, who evokes Provence’s troubadour tradition in experimental, “scraped” language; Nancy Arbuthnot’s reflections on her experience working with Vietnamese poet Lê Pham Lê and on the balancing act of translating poetry from another culture; and a piece by Clare Sullivan examining the way in which Natalia Toledo’s Zapotec roots affect her poetry.
“Google Settlement Revisited” follows up on the Point/Counterpoint featured in the Spring issue.

Our theme for the fall will be "Translation and the Arts." Submissions for that issue may be sent to michele@mckayaynesworth.com. Deadline is August 10.

Pink Flamingos

At the bottom of the garden
under the eaves
near the palm festooned with leaves
two pink flamingos stoop to graze
and pass the time on summer days

They watch the shadows cruising by
and muse on how it feels to fly

I’d join them if I knew the lingo.
Wish I’d learned to speak flamingo!

In an extensive interview, Tony will talk about the creative process, interpreting and translating as they relate to writing and acting, and how to be ready when inspiration strikes.

Austin’s own Therapy Sisters will round out the program with their special take on holiday music.

Update: Listen to the show:

Don’t miss Tony Beckwith’s cover-page cartoon and By the Way: My LitSIG column, plus a fascinating look at Computer Game Localization and Literary Translation by Frank Dietz.

Potential contributors to the Fall issue should email submissions to Source Editor Michele Aynesworth.

Tony Beckwith will share insights on translating tangos, with musical examples. Marian Schwartz will point out some key Internet sites for literary translators.

In addition, Frank Dietz will demonstrate how to use RSS feeds from the new AATIA blog, walking us through the process of connecting to this valuable resource.

Refreshments and networking round out the meeting. Language-loving guests are welcome.

Three of my short story translations just came out, all in the spring 2008 issue of the journal Metamorphoses. This is almost weird, but for two years the editor ran special issues, so my contributions stacked up:

• “Down to the Lake with Flemming and his Pump Gun” from Jeg er stadig bange for Caspar Michael Petersen by Jan Sonnergaard (Gyldendal 2003)
• “Sidi el Barduk and Zuleima” from Kærlighedshistorier Fra Mange Lande (1867) by Meir Aron Goldschmidt
• “Pulling up Fishtraps” from Das Los unserer Stadt (Olten,1959) by Wolfdietrich Schnurre

In January I received a grant of $824 from the Danish government agency Kunststyrelsen for translating five short stories into English.

In other literary translation news, Michele McKay Aynesworth has edited the latest edition of Beacons, a publication of the Literary Division of the American Translators Association. Liliana Valenzuela and Tony Beckwith were also involved in this production: they collaborated on the translation into Spanish of some short fiction from the book Unlucky Lucky Days by Daniel Grandbois.

The Yellow Beetle

She parked the car and walked across the plaza. Out of the corner of his eye he watched her sit at the next table. The collar of her white blouse was slightly turned up at the back, under the chestnut wave of her hair.

“Is that your car?” he asked, pointing at the yellow Volkswagen. She nodded, then turned to look at him through large, round sunglasses.

“You’re English, aren’t you?” It was his turn to nod. She went on: “I’ve just driven down from London.” “Is this your first time in Spain?” She smiled and shook her head. “Where do you stop along the way?” he asked. She thought for a minute. “I had a flat in Paris once.” He pictured her lying on a chaise longue, gazing out of a tall window at a cloudless blue sky. Her face was lifted up to the light, her throat rising smoothly from her breast. “Did you live there alone?” She suddenly laughed. “No, no. A flat tire! I had a flat tire in Paris.” A wave of inexpressible joy burst over him. He grinned and said, “I haven’t ridden in a new Beetle yet.”

Some may think of cats as smart and superior beings, while others consider them self-centered and unreliable. The same occurs with dogs: they may look stupid and subservient to cat lovers, but cynophiles consider them loyal, sociable and dependable. Project managers can also have either characteristic when performing their daily work. The trick is to balance your feline and canine qualities to make sure the most important goal is achieved: client satisfaction and retention.

They say if we bring the kit, they’ve got the kaboodle.