Episode 64: John Keene (Translation Series, Ep. 2)

Commonplace: Conversations with Poets (and Other People)

Episode 2 of Commonplace’s special series on translation

John R. Keene is the author of Annotations and Counternarratives, both published by New Directions, as well as several other works, including the poetry collection Seismosis, with artist Christopher Stackhouse, and a translation of Brazilian author Hilda Hilst’s novel Letters from a Seducer. Born in St. Louis, Keene is a graduate of Harvard College and New York University, where he was a New York Times Fellow. He is the recipient of many awards and fellowships—including a MacArthur Genius Award, the Windham-Campbell Prize, and the Whiting Foundation Prize for fiction. He teaches at Rutgers University-Newark. (Bio adapted from New Directions.)

John Keene talks to Commonplace host Rachel Zucker about his experiences—starting as early as middle school—with translation, why he believes translation is so important, and how his work as a poet and fiction writer is informed by his work as a translator. Keene, who primarily translates from Portuguese, French and Spanish, speaks about his article “Translating Poetry, Translating Blackness,” and how the dearth of translations of non-Anglophone black diasporic writers into English compounds problem of the lack of representation in media and literature. Keene also discusses the whiteness of the publishing industry, the unique challenges of translating LGBTQ+ literature across cultures, and more.

Liner Notes
:03 John Keene reads (in Portuguese and English) a recent translation of “Black Eye” by Cristiane Sobral that he translated (with input from Erik M. B. Becker) for the special issue on Afro-Brazilian writing they co-edited for Words without Borders.

9:12 Keene reads his recent translation of “I Won’t Wash the Dishes Anymore” by Cristiane Sobral (also for the Afro-Brazilian issue of Words without Borders).

16:25 Keene reads the final paragraph of his translation of Letters from a Seducer by Hilda Hilst (written in Portuguese).

20:28 Keene reads an excerpt of his article, “Translating Poetry, Translating Blackness” written for Thinking Its Presence conference and posted on Poetry Foundation website, Harriet, for the special translation issue edited by Daniel Borzutzky.

32:06 Keene reads from his book (a collaboration with Nicholas Muellner) Grind.

Keene reads “Anna vê Alice / Anna Sees Alice” by Paulo Leminski in Portuguese and English and his own English translation.

All recordings were made by Rachel Zucker of John Keene in New York City on December 17, 2018.