Embodying Translation: Poetry’s Lea(r)nings

Western Front and The Capilano Review are pleased to present a workshop by writer-in-residence Erín Moure.

On the workshop, Moure says:

Translation is a performance that is incorporated, that stems from a textual flow through a body already socially, culturally and ideologically constituted (and in motion, for these do not stay fixed), and that already has corruptions in its own structure that will mar what passes through it. We can best learn about how language (linguaxe) crosses language (lingua) borders by working with poetry, which is language at its most polyvalent and demanding.

In this workshop, we’ll translate a small poem in pairs, then discuss some of the effects, and how we might learn from them more about language’s workings: key skills for any translator/writer/communicator in tomorrow’s (today’s!) world. We’ll work into English, primarily, and the workshop welcomes participants with any level of multilingual experience, including unilingual. All you need is language curiosity.

This workshop is open to writers working in any genre. A total of 12 in-person workshop spaces are available.

Registration includes the option for a one-year subscription to The Capilano Review at a discounted rate.

The registration fee is waived for Indigenous writers. If you are an Indigenous writer interested in participating in this workshop, please contact [email protected].

Erín Moure is a poet, essayist, and translator of poetry based in Montréal, Canada who works across Galician, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English. A recipient of two Governor General’s Literary Awards—poetry and translation—as well as the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the A.M. Klein Prize, she holds two honorary doctorates and has been International Translator in Residence at Queen’s College (Oxford) and Woodberry Creative Fellow (Harvard).

The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs. ASL interpretation is available upon request. Please contact us at [email protected] or +1 (604) 876 9343 to arrange. Further details about accessibility at Western Front can be found here.

Presented in partnership with The Capilano Review as part of their annual Writers-in-Residence program.

Host or Publisher Western Front