What do we mean when we say a character or an author—or even a translator—has a “voice”? What is the difference between a work of prose that has a voice and one that doesn’t? And how do translators bring a “voice” to life? In this talk, Anton Hur will examine the idea of voice in literary translation. He will focus on the practice of “triangulation,” or the zeroing in on a narrative voice, and “translator jetlag,” or the tendency for translators to require periods of adjustment between book-length projects defined by different narrative voices.

Anton Hur is the author of Toward Eternity and No One Told Me Not To. He is a prolific translator of numerous books, including the bestseller by and about the Korean boy band BTS. His translation of Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature.

Anton Hur's work will be available through Third Place Books, which has a  comprehensive selection of Anton Hur’s translations available for purchase online and at the event, including Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, Counterweight by Djuna, and Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park."

Hur will be available to sign books after the lecture and Q&A. 

This event is free and open to the public. No registration required, seats available on a first come basis.

Anton Hur’s events are part of the inaugural visit by a major literary translator—an annual program made possible through a generous gift from Lee Scheingold, a longtime patron of the humanities at UW. This initiative builds on the work of UW’s Translation Studies Hub and is designed in collaboration with several community partners in Seattle, including the Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society, Seattle Central College, and Third Place Books.