Not So Simple! Translating Young Adult Literature as Resistance and Entertainment with Sawad Hussain

There is a common misconception in literary publishing that books for children and young adults are “simple” and are, therefore, easy to translate. But translating literature for younger people is not simple at all. How does the process of “curating” young people’s literature involve translators’ negotiation with the expectations of English-language editors and publishers? How might translation of young people’s literature into English function as a form of decolonization and resistance? What are the sensitivity issues that are particular to publishing young adult literature? Should young adult literature in translation be handled like highbrow adult literature in translation, like “ordinary” YA literature, or something in between? And, finally, does the original language of the book or its country of origin affect these calculations? Join the panel of three distinguished translators—Sawad Hussain (Arabic), Shelley Fairweather-Vega (Russian and Uzbek), and Takami Nieda (Japanese)—for an engaging discussion of these issues.

Sawad Hussain is a translator from Arabic whose work has been recognised by, among others, The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation and the National Book Award for Translated Literature. Recent releases include a co-translated sci-fi YA title (I Want Golden Eyesby Maria Dadouch) and a murder mystery YA novel (The Djinn’s Apple by Djamila Morani). A former Co-Chair of the Translator’s Association (UK), she is committed to mentoring literary translators and developing the industry in general.