On Tuesday, January 26, 2009, a friend and I drove over an hour round trip in the Columbus snow, spinning out twice, to buy Franz Ferdinand’s third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, at a record store on its release date. Continue reading
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Making Voices Heard: The Art as Activism Symposium
At 4:00PM on Tuesday October 20th, Oxford heard voices – not in the sense of the supernatural (despite the approach of the 31st), but rather in the sense of strength and leadership in a shifting world. The voices told stories of culture and heritage, of the ways in which art gave them the language they needed to phrase their reply to the discrimination and inhumanity they witness. With each anecdote and poignant remark, the voices called upon their student audience to remember that it is the student voice to which the world listens. That, though Miami University’s “Art as Activism Symposium” panel may have designated the voices of seven artists to discuss the role of creative expression in the realm of change, those seven voices should not be the only ones expected to speak. Continue reading
MU Press Novella Winner Lawrence Coates to Visit Miami
Lawrence Coates is the author of Camp Olvido, the winner of the Miami University Press 2015 Novella Prize. He is currently a professor of creative writing at Bowling Green State University. MU Press intern and senior Creative Writing major Annabel Brooks recently chatted on the phone with Coates to learn more about his novella and his writing process in anticipation of Camp Olvido’s October 27th release. Continue reading
Literary London: Living the Dream
I couldn’t believe this was actually happening. I, Shannon Lindsay, was studying in London for six weeks. Can you believe it? I couldn’t. There had been only one spot left in the program, with less than a week left to apply. I had enrolled in the Creative Writing and Strategic Communications majors just this semester. And now I was in London. I’d travelled before. I had been to Mexico, Canada, Ireland, and France, but my dream was to always go to London, and here I was. Continue reading
Miami Alumni Return for National Poetry Day
Sitting in the audience of the Alumni Poets Reading this past Thursday evening, I had the honor of listening to two very different poets read their original works. Listening to a poet read their own work is a wonderful way to begin to understand their writing – the movement is particular, and the exquisiteness of images, metaphors, and chosen words is communicated best by their creator.
Department Events This Year
The Department is very excited to be hosting so many distinguished guests and speakers! This lovely poster lists all of the events during the year that the Creative Writing Department at Miami hosts, the next event being Chris Bachelder, author of U.S.! and Bear v. Shark, tonight at 7:30 in the MU Bookstore. You may want to get there a bit early, because it’s sure to be a full house.
Je Ne Sais Quoi: Miami’s Third Annual Translation Symposium
Translation, as mentioned by Kinsey Cantrell in the previous post, is generally seen as a service instead of an art, where the translator is simply rendering a poem into a different language. The assumption is that translation is as much an art as transcribing the words of someone else. However, as English Ambassador Abigail Mechley notes in her great article for the English Department, the practice of bringing a piece of writing from one language to another “insists on stretching language to its limit”.
Guest speakers Rosa Alcalá and Erin Moure, respectively.
The Miami University Symposium on Literary Translation brought two distinguished speakers to campus for a two-part event – a Panel on Literary Translation, followed by a reading from their translated works. They, too, echoed the importance of translation. “I realized that there was a world that I understood through Spanish language that wasn’t being expressed in English, a way of thinking and a way of being in the world, and I wanted to capture this in English,” said Alcalá. Moure agreed, noting that translation is an ethical responsibility that allows readers to see their language and the world differently. A huge thank-you to our guest speakers, and to everyone who attended the symposium!
To read more about the 2016 Miami University Translation Symposium, click here
Claudia Keelan: Female Troubadours and Feminism
As a Creative Writing major, I’ve written poems, plays, prose. As an Italian minor, I’ve studied language extensively, including literature in other languages. Despite that, before studying it in my poetry workshop, I’d never given translation much thought. I never considered translation a form of creative writing; if the original was the creative writing piece, the translator seemed to be merely the messenger. Continue reading
The Poetics of Translation: Miami University’s Annual Translation Symposium
“Isn’t English good enough for you?” Charles Bernstein asked in a 2010 interview with translator Erin Mouré. It’s a question that leads me to reflect on the emotional investment of the translator. What can she offer as a poet to a work that she is translating? How can she retain the original connection the author had with the words of his native tongue in this new language? Why are translated works so crucial to the literary world? Continue reading
A Visit from Alissa Quart
Just a week after Beth Harrison’s visit, we were graced by another New York-based writer, Alissa Quart. Last month, Miami University Press published Quart’s first book of poetry, Monetized. In celebration of her book’s publication, Quart paid us a whirlwind visit here in Oxford. You’d never guess it, but Monetized is her first book of poetry. However, it’s only the most recent addition to her list of commendable accomplishments. Quart is an Emmy-nominated multimedia producer, the author of three non-fiction books, a co-editor of a journalism non-profit called Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and a revered journalist, professor, and poet. Continue reading