The Select Centre

20/04/2018

Have you checked out the second quarterly issue of our online magazine Canopy? Three featured posts this week with new content added weekly.

21/03/2018

"My novels are always critical of the colonial and the postcolonial situation. And nothing will change in that direction. You have to look at what impacts human lives, which is impacted by questions of wealth, power, and values in a society—how, even in the dark, people come to meet and love each other."

The Kenyan author discusses colonialism and abandoning English to write in his native Kikuyu.

10/03/2018

As a translator myself, I found Asuka Goto's installation of annotated pages profoundly satisfying and, at times, anxiety-inducing.

04/03/2018

One translation researcher explores whether machines can one day translate literature.

Longread with results of a small study to the use of translation engines for literary translation. Can machines outplace human translators when it comes to book translations?

01/03/2018

"One of Britain’s greatest strengths is set to diminish as China asserts itself on the world stage."

One of Britain’s greatest strengths is set to diminish as China asserts itself on the world stage, says author Nicholas Ostler

15/01/2018

Written and translated by the father-daughter team of Saba and Saaradhaa Muthunatarajan, "Request" is a poem on the celebration of life in the face of death.

Written in Tamil by respected Singapore media professional Saba Muthunatarajan and translated into English by his daughter Saaradhaa Muthunatarajan, this poem is a celebration on life in the face of death, inviting readers to reflect on the value of experiences of all kinds, and the joy offered by a...

13/01/2018

An excellent piece that illuminates the nature of literary translation. It's a discussion that has been going on for more than a century.

Deborah Smith, whose rendition of Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” won the Man Booker International Prize, reflects on the controversies of translation.

12/01/2018

Written by Latha in Tamil and translated into English by Sulosana Karthigasu, "The Spider that Lives outside its Web" reflects on the power of telling a story.

This short story by Singapore Tamil writer Latha is a meditation on isolation, memory, and the power of a good narrative. Translated from Tamil into English by established translator Sulosana Karthigasu, it follows a story told over a series of conversations, and examines how the act of listening af...

10/01/2018

Art by Translation is open to four artists and curators seeking to further their research through a postgraduate program dedicated to translation in the arts.

Art by Translation research program in art and curatorial practices // Call for applications 2018–19 // Application deadline: 26 January 2018

09/01/2018

The eternal tussle in Literary Translation of whether a translator should be more faithful to the author or to the reader.

The English-language versions of Han’s work have won wide acclaim. Are they faithful to the original?

05/01/2018

Come read a speculative short story! Written by Singapore writer Xiao Han, and translated from Chinese into English by Caterina Poh, "The Bedroom Travel Agency" awaits.

Caterina Poh translates this short story by Xiang Yun, a celebrated Singapore writer and lyricist, from Chinese into English. A work of speculative fiction, the story looks at familial and romantic…