On January 27, 2022, the Griffin Poetry Prize launched Translation Talks, a series of conversations about translation and poetry where past shortlisted and winning authors are invited to discuss their craft. Our first event featured Khaled Mattawa and Sarah Riggs.
Join us on Thursday, March 10th at 7pm ET on Zoom for our second Translation Talks, featuring Ani Gjika and Dunya Mikhail.
Ani Gjika was a finalist for the 2019 International Griffin Poetry Prize for her translation of Luljeta Lleshanaku’s Negative Space (Bloodaxe Books/New Directions, 2018). Dunya MIkhail was a finalist for the 2006 International Griffin Poetry Prize for The War Works Hard (New Directions, 2005), translated by Elizabeth Winslow.
Ani Gjika is an Albanian-born poet, literary translator, and author of Bread on Running Waters (Fenway Press, 2013). Her translation of Luljeta Lleshanaku’s Negative Space (Bloodaxe Books/New Directions, 2018) was shortlisted for the 2019 International Griffin Poetry Prize. She’s a recipient of several awards and fellowships including from the National Endowment for the Arts, English PEN, the Robert Pinsky Global Fellowship and, most recently, Restless Books’ 2021 Prize for New Immigrant Writing for her forthcoming memoir.
Dunya Mikhail is an Iraqi American poet and writer. She has received a United States Artists Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Kresge Fellowship, Arab American Book Award, and UN Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing. She is the first contemporary Iraqi woman poet translated into English. Her book The War Works Hard (New Directions, 2004) was shortlisted for the 2006 International Griffin Poetry Prize. New Directions published three of her other poetry books and her non-fiction book, The Beekeeper, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and for PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award. Her debut novel, The Bird Tattoo, shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, is coming out on December 6, 2022 from Pegasus. She currently works as a special lecturer of Arabic at Oakland University in Michigan. Visit Dunya Mikhail’s website here and read her recent piece on self-translation.
Translation Talks will run for approximately one hour on Zoom and will be hosted by Griffin Poetry Prize social media director Mirene Arsanios and editorial director Adriana Oniță. You will receive the Zoom link via Eventbrite after registering.
If you have any questions, please contact Adriana Oniță at editorialdirector@griffinpoetryprize.com.