DOHA, QATAR - In association with Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) held the second annual two-day translation conference on April 3 and April 4, titled The Traveling Text. Taking place at Carnegie Mellon Qatar's campus, the conference addressed current and ongoing challenges facing translators, while providing practical solutions from veteran experts and linguists in the field.
"Following the success of last year's conference, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar joins forces with Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing to bring international plenary speakers and workshop leaders to Qatar," said Amal Mohammed Al Malki, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, who helped to develop the conference program.. "Language is a powerful tool in bringing people together. This year we are exploring translation from and into more languages, giving us insights into new cultures. Our workshops deal with different topics in translation, providing in-depth knowledge and instant training in a friendly and interactive format."
"Carnegie Mellon Qatar understands the importance of translation in our bilingual and multilingual students' daily lives and the need to equip them with the academic training that helps to turn a simple daily act into a professional one," she added.
This conference has been developed in conjunction with BQFP as part of its efforts to improve standards of Arabic language translation, as well as editing of texts both into and out of Arabic and make it more accessible. Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, PhD, Reading and Writing Development Director of BQFP said: "We have added French, Hindi and Russian as languages of expertise provided by the plenary and workshop leaders this year. We are pleased to continue expanding the conversation about translation, texts and literature as a publisher based in the Arab world. As a publisher of translated works, BQFP supports this conference as an effort to provide opportunities for conversations and collaboration."
Integrated as part of the two-day conference, experts in the translation field conducted workshops with leading practitioners and educators to focus on various aspects of the craft in relation to translating from Arabic to English and vice versa as well as among other languages. The different workshops were led by Sameh F. Hanna, lecturer in Translation Studies and Arabic at the University of Salford; Samia Mehrez, Director of Center for Translation Studies at American University in Cairo; Dr. Nabila Zouaoui, expert to the Qatari Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Dr. Hamad Al Kuwari and Dr. Afnan Fatani, associate professor of linguistics in the department of European Languages and Literature at King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia.The conference plenary sessions were moderated by well-known Egyptian novelist, Ahdaf Souief. "It's wonderful to be back for the second translation conference, which in my opinion has grown up and expanded to discuss important topics with regards to translation and attract a distinguished array of translators both as plenary speakers and workshop leaders," said Souief.
The first plenary session, titled "The Way I Work", was conducting by Arch Tait, translator and editor who received a Ph.D. in Russian literature from Cambridge University and Amanda Hopkinson, Professor of Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia. Arch Tait described the practical methods of translating, starting at draft one to the final document, while elaborating on the most useful techniques a veteran can make use of. To discuss further the importance of mastering translation techniques, a second interactive plenary session titled "Book to Book/Page to Page" was delivered by Daniel Hahn, a writer, editor and translator, and Jason Grunebaum, a writer and translator.The second day of the conference, which took place on Monday, April 4, included the third workshop session as well as the closing plenary session, moderated by Ahdaf Soueif, titled "Ways Forward: A Public Round Table of Plenary Speakers and Leaders."
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ABOUT CARNEGIE MELLON
For more than a century, Carnegie Mellon University has been inspiring innovations that change the world. Consistently top ranked, Carnegie Mellon has more than 11,000 students, 84,000 alumni and 4,000 faculty and staff globally.
In 2004, Qatar Foundation invited Carnegie Mellon to join Education City, a groundbreaking center for scholarship and research. Students from Qatar and over 40 different countries enroll at our world-class facilities in Education City.
Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers undergraduate programs in business administration, computer science and information systems. Carnegie Mellon is firmly committed to Qatar's National Vision 2030 by developing people, society, the economy and the environment.
Learn more at www.qatar.cmu.edu.
ABOUT BQFP
Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) is owned by Qatar Foundation and managed by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Established in October 2008 and headquartered in Doha, BQFP has three main aims: firstly to publish books of excellence and originality in English and Arabic including fiction and non-fiction for adults and for children, educational books for schools, academic books for universities and researchers, and information and reference titles.
Secondly, BQFP, Qatar's first publishing house, aims to promote the love of reading and writing, and to help establish a vibrant literary culture in Qatar and the Middle East through reading events, book groups and other initiatives, such as World Book Day. BQFP also wants to cultivate new literary talent especially in Arabic by organizing events to support the development of aspiring new literary talent and running creative writing workshops.
BQFP's third aim is to achieve the transfer of publishing and related skills into Qatar through regular internships and secondments in Doha and at Bloomsbury's headquarters in London, training courses in key areas of publishing, and mentoring of aspiring Qatari publishers. Within this area, BQFP is committed to helping improve standards of translation into and out of Arabic beginning with the first annual BQFP International Translation Conference being run in May 2010 in Doha in partnership with Carnegie-Mellon University Qatar.
For more information on BQFP's activities please refer to our website: http://www.bqfp.com.qa/output/index.html
Contacts:
D. Murry Evans
+974 4454 8490
dmevans@qatar.cmu.edu
Kimberly Mathern
kimberlym@brownlloydjames.com
© Press Release 2011
