Olga Tokarczuk - Encounters with Polish Literature - S1E11

Olga Tokarczuk with Antonia Lloyd-Jones and Jennifer Croft (translators)

In this episode we speak with Tokarczuk’s two English-language translators, Antonia Lloyd-Jones and Jennifer Croft, about what it is like to work with Olga Tokarczuk and about some of the challenges and rewards involved in translating her work. We talk about Tokarczuk’s idea of the “tender narrator,” who sees the world from a different plane than the first- and third-person narrators that we usually associate with prose fiction. The discussion focuses on their recently published translations of Tokarczuk’s novels, her “eco-thriller,” Drive your Plow through the Bones of the Dead and Tokarczuk’s magnum opus, The Books of Jacob about eighteenth-century Jewish messianic leader, Jacob Frank. Finally, these two successful and productive translators discuss their upcoming projects and where they will be giving workshops and conducting mentorships in literary translation in the near future.

"Encounters with Polish Literature" is a new video series for anyone interested in literature and the culture of books and reading. Each month, host David A. Goldfarb presents a new topic in conversation with an expert on that author or book or movement in Polish literature.

Learn more about this episode, and see the biography of the guests on the Polish Cultural Institute New York's website. The linked page includes a list of selected translations and background on Olga Tokarczuk:
https://instytutpolski.pl/newyork/202...

Access the Playlist of the entire series:
https://bit.ly/Encounters-ALL