Join us for "Speaking in Tongues," a conversation with poets about the art of translation. This event will delve into the experiences and approaches of poets who work with translators to have their work rendered in another language. Featuring local poets Miguel Bacho, Lynn Levin, and David Acosta.

What are the requirements, expectations, and critical approaches of a poet translating someone else's work? How do poets feel about having their own work translated by others? Discover the nuances and challenges of literary translation from the perspectives of those who live it.

This program is a part of the 6th edition of the Latin American Book Fair 2024, in partnership with Casa de Duende and Temple University.

Authors:

Miguel Bacho was born in Iquique, Chile, in 1986. He has published the poetry collections Papeles Sueltos (Loose Papers) (Edunla, 2013, Argentina), Labores (Labors), (Sismo, 2022, Iquique, Chile) and Desayuno Continental (Continental Breakfast), (Attack Bear Press, Massachusetts, 2023). In 2018 he collaborated with the digital magazine Vice-Versa in the Urban Chronicles section of the journal and has participated in various initiatives and festivals in Western Massachusetts and Philadelphia. He currently resides in Ewing, New Jersey.

Lynn Levin is a poet, writer, and translator, from the Spanish, of Birds on the Kiswar Tree (2Leaf Press), a collection of poems by the Peruvian Andean poet Odi Gonzales.

The book, a bilingual edition, has been hailed by Poetry International as “a luminous collection of poems based on subversive and syncretistic church art…an outstanding translation by poet Lynn Levin.”

Lynn Levin’s poems, short stories, essays, and translations appear widely. Her other recent books include the short story collection House Parties and the poetry collections The Minor Virtues and Miss Plastique. She is the co-author of the acclaimed creative writing textbook Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets. She teaches at Drexel University. Her website is lynnlevinpoet.com.

David Acosta is a poet, writer, curator and cultural producer. He has curated numerous solo and group art exhibitions, directed live performance and video pieces for stage, video and film, and has collaborated with local and international visual and performing artists.

He is co-founder and Artistic Director for Casa de Duende in Philadelphia and more recently, edited two poetry anthologies: Fatal Force: Poetic Justice, an anthology featuring the work of Martín Espada & submissions by poets responding to police violence, and co-edited with Mia Kang, the Save Chinatown Anthology, both published by Moonstone Press in 2024.

The views expressed by the authors and moderators are strictly their own and do not represent the opinions of the Free Library of Philadelphia or its employees.