News

20.12.2022

“Burdock and raspberry, or how to translate Polish literature?”. Meeting with Wei-Yun Lin-Górecka

Polish literature translator Wei-Yun Lin-Górecka has been working on artistic translations for more than ten years. When she entered the industry, most Taiwanese had little idea about Poland. They asked, “Is it still a communist country?” It was associated with patriotism, dramatic history, Chopin, Solidarity...

In 2022, when Taiwanese readers think of Polish literature, they have - thanks to Wei-Yun Lin-Górecka - the opportunity to reach for Sapkowski's Wiedźmin (“The Witcher”), Schulz's Ulica krokodyli (“The Street of Crocodiles”), Jak kochać dziecko (“How to Love a Child”), Król Maciuś (“King Matt the First”), and Kiedy znów będę mały (“When I am Little Again”) by Korczak, as well as many other extremely interesting children's books.

Wei-Yun Lin-Górecka has been a participant in the 'march of Polish literature through Taiwan' over the past ten years and has become an ambassador of this literature. What does she think about the translation of Polish literature? How does she try to "interpret" it? How can she introduce Polish literature to Taiwanese readers not only through translations, but also through literary exhibitions and lectures? How does Wei-Yun Lin-Górecka see the future of Polish literary translation in Taiwan now that she is transforming from a translator of Polish literature into a researcher of Taiwanese-Polish history and relations, and when artificial intelligence is becoming more and more advanced and may in the near future replace traditional 'human' translators? What advice does she have for young translators?

All this and many more aspects of the translation craft will be discussed by Wei-Yun Lin-Górecka during the scheduled meeting.

The meeting is part of preparations for the Polish presentation as guest of honour at TIBE in Taipei (31 January - 5 February 2023).

It is organised by the Book Institute in partnership with the National Chengchi University NCCU and the Polish Office in Taipei.

A meeting in Chinese is scheduled for 21 December this year at 19:00 local time (Taipei). For those interested, it will be available here.