Fiona Sze-Lorrain interviewed by the Lantern Review Blog
"The main thing I do is to practice listening, which might not be what one typically associates with translation when one translates. Some translators could be more concerned with the 'mot juste', the authenticity of texts, for instance, and these are legitimate concerns. I think beyond the technical, textual, or theoretical issues, there can be a more spiritual path. Once one starts focusing on differences—or similarities, for that matter—in sonics, and thinks about obtaining the 'perfect pitch,' one is on a different path."
2019-2020 Fellow Fiona Sze-Lorrain was interviewed by the Lantern Review blog on her translation of Ye Lijun’s My Mountain Country, published earlier this year. Dedicated to Asian American poetry, the interviewer asks Sze-Lorrain questions about how and why she was drawn to Lijun’s poems, translation strategies, and her creative process.