shop talk: The Literary Event That Almost Wasn’t

Rhonda Mullins is carte blanche’s translation editor. She is a freelance translator and writer.

It was a dark and stormy night… April 26, 2011. A few hunched figures scurried from their cars seeking shelter at VV Taverna, Montreal. The weather was fit for neither man nor beast. But translators are a hearty bunch…

I have heard stories of literary events that have failed to attract crowds, but this particular night was my baptême de l’air.  To mark World Book and Copyright Day, the Literary Translator’s Association of Canada (LTAC) had organized an evening of readings and discussion featuring authors and their translators. French-German translation team Louis Bouchard and Marie-Elisabeth Morf, Jacques Godbout and his Russian translator Ludmila Proujanskaïa, Quebec author Jocelyne Saucier and I were to form a panel, to be moderated by Louise Desjardins.

The panel table was spot lit and a row of microphones were in place, looking very official. The hour the event was to begin came, and then went. The door opened, and all eyes turned to it, hoping to see the audience stream in. Then, shoulders sagged in unison when a lone person appeared, a friend of the bartender, wondering what he had done to disappoint. In the end, we had six panellists, two hosts, a barman with a literary bent and three audience members. Thank god for friends and family.

It turned out to be more than enough. We dispensed with the mics, formed a circle next to the fireplace, drank beer and talked about translating literature. Every member of the audience beamed with the keenness of at least ten, and panellists became audience members when they weren’t speaking. We all went home quite satisfied, except for the organizer, who was a bundle of nerves, the poor dear.

I’m not going to bemoan the lack of interest in things literary. I’m not going to gripe about how translators don’t get no respect. There are no fingers to point here. It was April 26, 2011; Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Habs against the Bruins. The Bruins, for god’s sake. There’s not a translator on earth who could win against them odds.

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LTAC, by the way, does fine work organizing both casual and more formal literary events that showcase translated works and try to bridge the gap between Canada’s two literary divides. And VV Taverna on Bellechase in Montreal deserves our custom for gamely hanging a sign that night that said “No hockey tonight. Literary event instead.”