The 2020 W.G. Sebald Lecture was given by David Bellos on Monday 29th June 2020, 4pm, Online.

“The Myths and Mysteries of Literary Translation”

Professor Bellos teaches French and Comparative Literature at Princeton University, where he also directs the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication. A prize-winning translator of works by Georges Perec, Ismail Kadare and others, he has written an acclaimed introduction to translation, Is That A Fish in Your Ear? The Amazing Adventure of Translation (Penguin, 2012). His biography of Perec won the Prix Goncourt de la biographie in 1994, and his latest book is a study of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Misérables.

This event was in partnership with the British Library and the National Centre for Writing and supported by Arts Council England.

Photo credit: David Bellos

Sebald Lecture 2020 - David Bellos

Britain’s leading centre for the development, promotion and support of literary translation and contemporary writing from around the world.

We are part of the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at University of East Anglia.

BCLT was founded in 1989 by the late WG Sebald. ‘Max’ was Professor of European Literature at UEA and a German writer who opted to live in the UK and continue writing in German. His novels and collections of essays, including The Rings of Saturn, The Emigrants, Austerlitz and On The National History of Destruction, established him as one of the leading writers of the twentieth century.

British Centre for Literary Translation

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