Posted on March 1, 2021 at 3:07 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
International Booker Prize winner Marieke Lucas Rijneveld won’t add translator to their resume (yet) after all.
Rijneveld announced in a tweet last Friday that the uproar over their selection as translator for poet Amanda Gorman had prompted them to decline the offer, which they’d initially accepted.
Gorman, the youngest ever inaugural poet, wowed audiences with her performance of “The Hill We Climb,” which also lends its name to her forthcoming debut collection.
But, the Associated Press reports, a prominent Dutch activist and journalist questioned publicly why the publisher hadn’t sought a Black translator instead of Rijneveld, who is white.
For just the news, you can read the AP’s article; for a dash of commentary along with the facts, check out Literary Hub’s rundown of the whole Gorman translation saga.
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Categories: Today in Books