Sad to say, I rarely get all the writing done that I'd like. But one reason -- one culprit! -- is literary translation. And in fact, to be fair, this letter to myself is a roundup of what I accomplished in writing AND translation this year. Next year I might add 'thinking' -- because maybe that counts (?). Or maybe I am doing a whole of thinking but not a whole lot of doing?
I'll start with the writing first, given the origins of this annual column, which began after I read a similar piece by the novelist, essayist and sometime travel writer Alexander Chee (proud to say he is also a Wes alum!). I always hesitate to mention this because swinging around a name like that can create expectations and then I have to hasten to add that I didn't accomplish anything near what Chee accomplished, that year or any subsequent year. But it remains my inspiration, and it's also useful as a reality check. By the time he wrote his roundup, he was way more successful than I am -- yet still charting out the year.
With that said, I am happy to report I landed my first byline with Longreads. (Hopefully my first of several since it is truly a wonderful space for writing). And not just any byline, but a piece where I could retell the rebirth of my writing life.
https://longreads.com/2019/07/23/notebook-reading-list/
I also published an essay on Ploughshares magazine's website about the novel I am translating, Passaggio in ombra by Mariateresa Di Lascia. It was my first byline with Ploughshares but more importantly, it was my way of keeping this project on the collective radar of the wider literary community. I was thrilled to win a $5,000 grant from PEN America last year for this translation project-in-progress, but I really want to see it come into English. And I need a publisher to do that (preferably one who sees value in publishing a novel that exposed the pains of #MeToo long before the #MeToo era). You can read the piece by clicking here.
But I suppose the big news for me was really once again translation-related: I won a short-term fellowship at the New York Public Library to study the works of Holocaust-era writers, one of whom I've begun to translate. I'll be at the library for two weeks in April and I presume I will float in bibliophilic ecstasy around the stacks, and in the great reading room, and maybe out front with the lions. The New York Public Library! Pinch me.
So much was not finished (a long essay on Italy, for starters). And oy, the rejections! So many. They particularly sting when they involve translations because I feel as though I have let down the Italian author whose words I have the privilege of ferrying over to the Anglophone world.
Of course, I also lived this year, and lived in a way that both frustrated writing and fostered it. I say frustrated because I've actually set a goal for myself to live more, write less (yes, you read right). At the same time, we visited Montreal again, my new home-away-from-home, and I was so swept up in Francophilia that I wrote loads, if only in my journal. I shouldn't say 'if only,' though, since my journal is not merely the record of my thoughts but the incubator for many writing projects.
One more "distraction": teaching. Two milestone moments in my nascent teaching career: I taught a course on Italian Women Writers (my passion) in Italian (yes), and I taught a course on the Literature of Travel at my alma mater, Wesleyan University. This kind of "distraction" (from writing/translating) is seriously welcomed! Revisiting the place where I came of age intellectually (or tried to), I found I walked the campus, not alone this time or with friends, but with the Ghosts of Jeanne Past.
I'll end on a note that I typically post to Facebook when I publish this column: What did you accomplish this year? In writing or translation or running or anything. Where's your Year in Writing or Year in Running (or insert field of endeavor here)?
I always ask this question ... but who will answer? Give me a Christmas gift and answer the question. I know you did something you're proud of. Please tell us! (here or on Facebook)
**Peace and love**
