In the new episode of the NER Out Loud podcast, Jennifer Shyue talks about how she fell in love with translation and details some of the pleasures and perils of this exacting and creative work.
Created, edited, and hosted by Madison Middleton ‘22.5, NER Out Loud episode 18 presents Anna Lidia Vega Serova‘s “Portrait of My Mother-in-Law with Subsequent Touch-Ups” read by Middlebury College theater major Lu Mila, and Jorge Enrique Lage‘s “Selections from Vultureffect” read by Michelle Marquez, a literature and creative writing.
Both of these selections were originally published in the “Cuban Literature Today” feature in NER 42.1, and both were translated by Jennifer Shyue. Listen in as Jennifer discusses her process, from choosing what to translate to reading aloud for sound and rhythm. “A lot of the problem solving is similar between writing and translation,” she says, but to her, “Translation was always the most fun part of writing without the more stressful parts.”
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Madison Middleton ‘22.5 is a theater and music joint major with foci in acting, playwriting, vocal performance, and composition. Madison is a member of the Middlebury College Choir and an Oratory Now coach. For Episode 14 of NER Out Loud, posted in spring 2021, they read from McKenna Marsden’s short story “Suffering in Motion” and interviewed the author.