Sam Bett and David Boyd Translate New and Familiar Voices

At Full Stop, Sam Bett and David Boyd discuss the process of translating the works of Kawakami Mieko and how they approach presenting her work to a spectrum of readers. “Translations are often talked about as offering a different voice from a different place,” Bett says, “but a book that feels like a new world to one reader might feel like home to another. I think we need to translate for readers who find the work to be familiar as much as for those who find it distinct from their lived experience.”