Helen and Kurt Wolff Symposium

Although it seems like I just got back from Los Angeles, I’m actually about to take off again for Chicago to participate in the Helen and Kurt Wolff symposium. This day of discussions is being held in conjunction with the 13th Annual Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize ceremony, which honors outstanding translation from German into English.

This year’s recipient is David Dollenmayer for Childhood. An Autobiographical Fragment by Moses Rosenkranz, published by Syracuse University Press. The official award ceremony is Monday night, and should be a really nice event.

The symposium promises to be extremely interesting. Quite a list of participants: Peter Constantine, Renate Latimer, Rainer Schulte, Denis Scheck, Jennifer Lyons, Dennis Loy Johnson of Melville House, Daniel Slager of Milkweed Editions, Jill Schoolman of Archipelago, Matvei Yankelevich of Ugly Duckling, Martin Riker of Dalkey Archive, and Richard Nash of Soft Skull.

I’m excited to be on a panel entitled “Against the Mainstream—The Independent Publisher as Innovative Force” with Daniel, Dennis, and Jill.

These events aren’t open to the public (although the official page encourages “translators, scholars, students of literary translation and enthusiasts” to apply), but I will report back on Wednesday about all that goes on.