A big thanks to James Brodie, Xioaying Wang, Danni Zheng and English Trackers for making last night’s Translation Slam a success. If you missed the event – or would like to delve more deeply into the translations – English Trackers has all three versions of Han Han’s文化大国 on their blog.

With Google translate easily at everyone’s fingertips, is the art and trade of translation on it’s way out?
David Bellos’ new book, Is That a Fish in Your Ear? takes the debate of robot v human translation head on – and comes out firmly on team human.

Will automation completely replace human translation? Are we about to see the end of multilingualism? According to David Bellos, a professor of French and comparative literature at Princeton and Booker Prize-winning translator, that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. In his new book, “Is That a Fish in Your Ear?,” about process and social meaning of translation, he persuasively argues that human translators are as crucial as ever. At a time when the world seems more globalized and small than ever, they play a central role helping us understand each other and bring art to a broader audience. (Salon)

For all of your bookworms and word-nerds interested in translation and transcreation, don’t miss our Translation Slam on Wednesday, October 16th. Two (human) translators tackle blogger/race car driver/social critic/heartthrob Han Han’s short essay on the state of culture in China.

Translation Slam: Han Han, Wednesday, October 19 7:30pm, 20 rmb (members), 30rmb (non-members).
Brought to you by English Trackers.