Translation Center to Host Hybrid Event with Scholars and Translators of Contemporary Catalan Literature on March 1

The UMass Amherst Translation Center will host "Curating a Catalan Special Issue of Metamorphoses: A Conversation with Guillem Molla and Hillary Gardner" on Friday, March 1, from noon-1 p.m. in Herter Hall, Annex 017. The hybrid event, to be hosted simultaneously on Zoom, will celebrate the recent release of "Metamorphoses: The Five College Journal on Literary Translation," the journal of the Five College Faculty Seminar on Literary Translation, a collaboration of the Five College Consortium.

The journal, which is published in the spring and fall and was previously hosted at Smith College, is now published through the Translation Center at UMass Amherst. Contributions are published in the original language in addition to translations into English.

During the March 1 event, award-winning scholars and translators Molla and Gardner will discuss their roles as guest editors of a special double issue of "Metamorphoses" on contemporary Catalan literature. The issue, which is the bilingual magazine's first Catalan special issue in 25 years, introduces contemporary Catalan literature to English readers, as well as supports translators of Catalan literature, and provides a high-quality selection of translated works from Catalan to English.

Molla is director of the Catalan Language Program and senior lecturer of Spanish at UMass Amherst and is the founder of the UMass Amherst Sant Jordi Translation Contest. He received a doctorate degree in language, literacy and culture, and degrees in both Catalan and Spanish studies from the Universitat de Girona. His scholarly interests include comparative literature, food anthropology, documentary film, and reception studies. He is the author of "Ramon Esquerra, geografia crítica d'un esperit comparatista" and the editor of the correspondence between Josep Pla and Jaume Vicens Vives, titled "L'hora de les decisions: Cartes 1950-1966." He has edited five books by Catalan writers, including one by Prudenci Bertrana, and he received a Batista i Roca Award from IPECC for his promotion of Catalan culture in the U.S.

Gardner is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and also attended the Universitat de Barcelona. Since 2010, she has been translating and working with Catalan playwrights to bring their work to the international stage in English. Her play translations have been performed at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City and the Athens Epidaurus Festival in Greece, as well as been commissioned for subtitled performances at LaJoven theatre company in Madrid and the Teatr Wybrzeże in Gdańsk, Poland, among others. In addition to her freelance work as a translator, she has taught Catalan language and culture classes at UMass Amherst.

Since 1979, the Translation Center has been providing multilingual services from a research university setting connected to scholarship, professional organizations, and an international community. It is led by Regina Galasso, an associate professor in the Spanish and Portuguese program of the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts.

More information about the event can be found on the College of Humanities & Fine Arts news website.