El coloquio de los peritos: A Forum on Literary Translation

First of all, apologies for the wordplay in the title of this forum. For those readers who know Spanish, the allusion to Cervantes’ novela ejemplar (or exemplary novel), El coloquio de los perros, is easily recognizable. A coloquio is a colloquy – or conversation, or dialogue – while the pun on perros (dogs) and peritos (experts) is almost embarrassingly frivolous, as well as a little misleading. My goal here is to provide a space where literary translators (los “peritos”) from all languages, at all stages of professional development, from neophyte to seasoned veteran, can respond to texts that range from thoughts on a specific translation and/or translation in general, to some of the difficult decisions translators face when encountering an especially thorny text . . . The possibilities are limitless. And, of course, you don’t have to be a certified “expert” to participate: the desire to exchange ideas with other language-besotted readers is all that’s required!

Let’s get started!