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Hayes Translation Festival 2025
From March 18th to 20th, we had the opportunity to hear from six award-winning translators about their experiences and what inspired them to pursue the field during the Hayes Translation Festival. Students were also able to ask questions and receive thoughtful feedback from each translator during their respective talks. On Tuesday, Lisa Dillman, Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at Emory University, and Silvia Tandeciarz, Chancellor Professor of Modern Languages and Literature at William & Mary, shared insights into their work translating Spanish-language texts into English. Tandeciarz discussed her translation of Sea in My Bones by Juana Goergen, a collection of poems in Spanish, Taino, and Yoruba. Dillman, based in Georgia, read from Abyss, a National Book Award finalist by Pilar Quintana, which she translated from Spanish. Both Dillman and Tandeciarz offered valuable perspectives on the art and challenges of literary translation.
On Wednesday afternoon, all six translators participated in a panel hosted by Professor Castleberry, where they discussed the role of translated literature in today’s world and how translation fosters cross-cultural understanding. Later that evening, Aaron Robertson, a translator of Italian literature, and Aruni Kashyap, Associate Professor of English & Creative Writing at the University of Georgia, shared insights from their careers, including the challenges of translating hard-to-capture phrases. Robertson, author of The Black Utopians and translator of Igiaba Scego’s Beyond Babylon, discussed his experiences and motivation for pursuing translation. Kashyap, who has translated Assamese literature and authored multiple works in English and Assamese, spoke about the difficulties of translating Assamese, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Assam. Both highlighted the complexities and rewards of literary translation.
Ye Chun and Boris Dralyuk rounded out the Festival on Thursday. Chun is a bilingual Chinese American writer and literary translator, associate professor at Providence College, and recipient of three Pushcart Prizes. She shared excerpts from her novel, Straw Dogs of the Universe, which was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Dralyuk is a Ukrainian-American writer and Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Tulsa who works primarily in Russian and Polish literature. He shared parts of his collection of lyric meditations, My Hollywood and Other Poems. Both discussed the importance of translating works from countries that have a history of censorship in literature.
Each translator provided unique insights into the art of translation as a whole, and its role in both their lives and the literary landscape of today’s world. We thank them for their time and advice.