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An
Try it, foreign language proficiency
or not, you may find as did I, that it increases your skills and widens your horizons.
One of the highlights of my graduate
studies at
John R. Guthrie
Dear Writing Friends
The response to the first course I offered through Writer’s
Studio has been fantastic. The people
and their work are just wonderful. I
feel gratified in the extreme. For this
summer’s offering I’ll be teaching a new
five week online course that has proven to be tremendously enjoyable,
engaging, and of great use to writers in all genres. Even in the short duration of this course,
you will be amazed at the amount of instructive fun you have, and how much you
learn about both writing and yourself as a writer, whether you write poetry,
fiction, or nonfiction prose.
Found in Translation: A
hands-on workshop for writers in all genres
is not meant to turn out legions of
translators; it is designed solely for writers who want to gain greater control
and deeper authenticity and expression in their writing. Please note that no
familiarity with the original languages is needed. I created the method you will use in this
course after years as a translator because I realized how thoroughly this
approach strengthened every aspect of my writing. Please read on to see the
description below.
Found in Translation: A
hands-on workshop for writers in all genres
It might be said that all writing is translation. A bold statement—maybe true—one worth
exploring.
Somehow, on a walk through autumn woods with leaves floating
all around, you discover that the wind is alive inside of you. Your body grows
light, seems to lose its boundary, and you find yourself almost lifting from
the ground like the final phrase of a piano sonata floating off. How can you
write the ineffable quality of the light or air as you experience it in such a
moment; how do you express the way these make you feel so that a reader can
know it as you do?
And what about love? How can you write your love, or any
part of your personal invisible world, so that a reader has the greatest chance
of feeling it in the way that you
mean? How does any writer get so far
down into things that they can transform the invisible world of emotion to ink,
and ink back into feeling so that a reader feels it as well?
These examples point to part of the writer’s dilemma: how to
get said what must be said and how to make it real. To help you engage this
challenge, Found In
Translation offers a hands-on approach to translation and writing that will
help you engage many of the issues you already face as writers. It will help
you to clarify and resolve your own writing issues and struggles and maximize
your skills so that your writing becomes deeper and more authentically
expressive no matter the genre in which you write. All this and fun, too? Yes.
Each week participants will be given what I like to call the bones of a poem from another
language, culture and time – word-to-word, or, in the case of Asian languages,
character-to word translations that I have made from the original work. Then
the fun begins! By the end of the
workshop, during which you translate and write, post your work, and discuss
what you’ve done with other members of your small online group, (using software
that will take you 10 minutes
to learn!) you will have
translated poems from either ancient Chinese, modern Spanish, Japanese, Polish,
French, or German. You will have come
eye to eye with such great writers as Pablo Neruda,
Wang Wei, Cesar Pavese, Teruyama Shuji, Ranier Maria Rilke, or others,
and you will discover how to apply the techniques you’ve learned to your own
poems, prose, themes, characters, images, and writing needs.
Most importantly: No
familiarity with the original languages is needed; only a willingness to explore,
enjoy, be challenged in a way that nourishes you and your writing, and be
greatly engaged.
Found in Translation begins on July 24th and ends on
August 21st.
The fee for the five weeks is $108.
Please return the Registration Form
on the next page and follow the payment instructions below. Course size is limited to maximize
group interaction so please be sure to register
early to avoid disappointment. I’m sorry to say that last time I had to put
people on a waiting list. Registration
closes on July 17th or before if the individual groups fill up.
I look forward to seeing you and working together in Found In
Translation.
warm wishes
Peter
PS Please feel free to pass this on to a friend who might be
interested.
Who says my poems are poems?
My poems are not poems!
Only when you understand this
Can we begin to speak of poetry.
Payment:
Please fill out this form and return it to levgram@telus.net
as soon as possible. As soon as I
receive your Registration Form and Payment (see next page) you are
signed up for Found in Translation, offered by Writer’s Studio. Thank you and welcome!
NAME:
EMAIL:
PHONE:
ADDRESS:
If you have taken a workshop with me, please let me know
where and when:
If you have a ‘major’ writing genre, please tell me what it
is and how long you’ve been writing:
I’d like to be in a group with (names of other
participants):
Anything else you’d like me to know, including any
non-English languages in which you are fluent:
***Please read and
then type your name below to agree: In registering for Found
In Translation, offered by Writer’s Studio, I agree not to share any
materials related to Writer’s Studio at any time with people who are not
currently registered for Writer’s Studio, including the teachings, exercises,
writing by other participants and discussion. I also commit to doing everything
I can to help maintain a safe, supportive, learning environment in my
interactions with other members of Writer’s Studio. I understand that those who
do not abide by this commitment will be asked to leave the group and that no
refund will be given. Neither I, nor my family or heirs, will hold
Please type your name here to agree to the statement above:
Payment instructions appear on the
next page.
Payment Instructions
I use PayPal to receive
Registration fees. It is quick and easy
for you to use, and it allows me to work with people living in different
nations. I hope you don’t mind. As a reminder, the fee is $108 for the 5
week workshop.
Please go to www.paypal.com
When asked for the email address to which you want to “send
money”, please use levgram@telus.net
If
you have a PayPal account:
|
If you do not have a PayPal account:
|
If you have any problems with using PayPal,
please write to me right away at levgram@telus.net. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
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