Feminist Translation Slam with Marilyn Booth and Nariman Youssef

What is feminist translation? Is a matter of identity or practice? Join us for a feminist translation slam and panel discussion at this year’s Birmingham Literature Festival. The events are part of the new Feminist Translation Network project, based at the University of Birmingham, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Two acclaimed literary translators, Marilyn Booth and Nariman Youssef, will present and discuss their different English translations of a short piece of contemporary Arabic women’s writing. They will compare their choices and explain the reasons for their decisions, shedding light on what is involved when you approach the translation of women’s literature as a feminist act.

Marilyn Booth and Nariman Youssef have both published translations of Arabic women’s writing. Marilyn’s translations include Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies, which won the Man Booker International Prize 2019, and Nariman’s translations include Inaam Kachachi’s The American Granddaughter and Donia Kamal’s Cigarette Number Seven. Come along for a glimpse into the creative processes of translation – no knowledge of Arabic necessary.