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TomaszGrabiński is translatingMilo Janáč's book Milo nemilointo Polish duringhis artistic residency in Banská Štiavnica.
On December 3rd 2019, the selection of residents for the translator artist-in-residence program in Banská Štiavnica has been announced on our.TROJICA artist in residence ispart of Almázia Štiavnica: Mesto kultúry 2019 and it has been realized incollaboration with the town of Banská Štiavnica and the projectBANSKÁST A NICA and with the support of FPU, Fond na podporu umenia. Theresidencies and the activities connected to them are organized by theLiterary Information Center.The coordinator of the project isKatarína Balcarová Kucbelová.
The first resident (January 16th - February 15th) was Weronika Gogola, here is a shortwith her. Next (until March 15th) wasTomasz Grabiski, translatorfrom and Czech, a cultural manager and a diplomat. At present, he works at the city library of Wroclaw. He has translated works ofʲվDZý,Ѿᱹǰýand above all,ʲDZ鲹DZ. At the residency, he is finishing up the translation of his bookLegenda o jazyku and he is also working onMilo nemilo,the successful debut ofѾáč. The novella takes place mostly in thepub which isthe heart of every town. It appeared on theTOP 10 list forthe Anasoft Litera Award andit has been popular with readers as well.
Tomasz Grabiński answers our questions about working with the text and about his residency.
What made you choose the bookMilo nemilo?
First of all, it's a good book and I like its author. The book is different from thoseI have been translating from Czech and lately. There is hardly any history or politics present, instead, there's a lot of drinking and many details from thetype of life we do not know that well since most of us lead amore or less orderly existence.
The whole story began last summer, when Milo Janáč attended the festival Month of Authorial Reading.I work in the librabry in Wroclawwhere the festival took place. I asked my wife,KatarzynaDudzic-Grabińska,to prepare a sample translation from thebook.Ludmiła Koza from the publishing houseAmalteawas at the reading and she liked the book. We have decided that evening that we would translate the book and we are coming close to finishing the project. It will be the first book for the publishing house Amaltea, upuntil now they concentrated on Rumanian and Czech literature.
How can this title be interesting to Polish readers?
Martin M. Šimečka wrote in his review: "The drunk is a unique appearance. He is different than the Russian or Polish drunk who, even in his alcoholic haze, firmly knows that he belongs to a grand nation, a fact which might make hisdrinking part of a higher goal ornational mission." Naturally, there is a long tradition of this kind of literature in Poland, we can single out Jerzy Pilch whose work had been translated into thanks to Jozef Marušiak. Now it's time for us to get to know a different type of and Central European drunk.
What poses the biggest challenge when it comes to this translation?
As with any other book, it's important not to loose too many thing in translation. Equally important:the translation can't be worse than the original. In case of Milo nemilo, slang words and platitues pose a major challenge. Tocapture the rhythm and humor of the book is another challenge. When we take into account that the Polish language doesn't have a good equivalent for the word "výčapník" ("tapster"), we realize thatthe job is, paradoxically, not that easy. You can find the word "szynkarz“ in the -Polish dictionary, but just like "tapster", it's archaic.
Is the residency a good fit for you? Are you able to concentrate better than usually?
Yes, residencies are a great idea for translators and I am glad Ihave been a resident a couple of times.Trojica Air, besides being well organized,has the advantage of the small town for a setting. There are not that many distracting attractions hereas for example in Prague or Bratislava. At first,it feels like a month is a long time. And then at the endI was suprised it wasover so quickly. I could have used another month.
What else are you working on?
Aside fromMilo nemiloI am also finishing the translation of Rankov's Legendaojazyku.I also try to finish other translations I had begun before. And Ihave brought a stack of books nominated for the Anasoft Litera Award for the next residents here in Štiavnica and so I have a lot of reading to do as well.
During each residency, an event is organized where the author-translator duo is being presented. The discussion with Milo Janáš and TomaszGrabiński in Antikvariát (planned on March12th) however, had to be cancelled due to the corona virus restrictions.
The author of the graphic concept of the events isKristína Kubáňová, the authors of theTrojica Air logo arePalo a Janka Bálik.
