Three years on the Parkbench

Greetings all, and hope you're marking Bloomsday with something appropriately meaty and literary.

Bloomsday 2011 marks Parkbench's third birthday, and for the occasion, I'd like to redirect you to SelfMadeHero's blog guest post by yours truly for a bit of chat about the ups and downs of translating graphic novels, particularly BLACK PATHS by David B., out from SelfMadeHero on 30 June at the London launch party, to which you're all invited.

While you're there, check out our other 2011 titles: the wildly successful Cuban love story, Chico & Rita, translated by Howard Curtis, and Baby's in Black, a Beatles fan must, translated by Michael Waaler.

Horn-tooting, French food and feather fans: translation of KIKI launched in London

VALENTINE'S NIGHT saw the launch of the English-language translation of Kiki de Montparnasse by London publisher Self Made Hero, named as the Observer's Graphic Novel of the Month. [Horn-tooting disclaimer: reader, I translated it, and by damn, it was fun.]

Forever pushing the envelope when it comes to launches (last year's party for Cash: I see a darkness by Reinhard Kleist translated by Michael Waaler was held at the Institute for Contemporary Arts, sponsored by Chivas Regal), the Kiki Valentine's night dinner took the... cheesecake. Celebrated at Hardy's Brasserie in London's Marylebone, the atmosphere was distinctly French and enormous fun, thanks to the stripy-shirted Francophone staff and French-themed menu. Catel & Bocquet, the prize-winning BD duo made up of artist Catherine Muller and José-Louis Bocquet, were on hand to sketch and sign, respectively, and proved wildly popular with the KIKI enthusiasts cum diners in the packed-out restaurant.

In a personal first for this lifelong book launch attendee, and in true Kiki style, there was a burlesque artist! The divine Marianne Cheesecake was on hand for flirty, feather-covered fabulousness. I think it's safe to say that this improved Valentine's for many a gentleman BD fan, and indeed, that Kiki herself would have approved.

PARKBENCH TURNS TWO!

Parkbench shares the anniversary of its founding with an infinitely more important local event: Bloomsday. Today, Parkbench turned two, and Bloomsday was celebrated for the 106^th time. I would be hard pressed to make further comparisons between the two on any front, but, wearing my anorak, I do quietly enjoy the fact that a Dublin-based literary business was founded on a decidedly literary and decidedly ‘Dublin’ day.

Without sounding too much like an annual report, it has been a tough year for publishing, and thus for Parkbench. That said, it has seen a few important developments. I got an M.Phil in Literary Translation from Trinity College, Dublin, where I met and worked with an impressive team of new literary translators, some of whom have worked for Parkbench on sample translations for a French publisher and a Greek film festival. We kept up a steady online presence, through which we found translator Michael Waaler, who did the wildly successful translation from the German of Cash. My own first full translation from the French was published just this month, The Hot Rock, and there’s another in the pipeline: Kiki, a graphic biography of Man Ray’s model and the toast of 1920s Paris.

Also through web connections, we came across Sorcha Grisewood, a Dublin native now living in Abu Dhabi, where she works as a teacher. She caught my eye on the Publishing Ireland website for having a Masters in Translation Studies from Dublin City University and for her interest in breaking into publishing. Sorcha now works remotely as a part-time researcher for Parkbench, exploring new possibilities for our translation work abroad, and she has been delivering the goods by email and Skype for some weeks now, and her work has been invaluable.

By way of diversifying, Parkbench will be a patron of the Ranelagh Arts Festival, a local Dublin festival offering an impressive week-long programme of theatre, literature dance, music and the visual arts in area venues starting on Dublin’s Culture Night on 24 September – so be there or be square!

So, onwards and upwards. Plans for the coming year include building relationships with more Continental publishers, and closer to home, with our many arts and theatre festivals across the country.

Keep an eye on the Parkbench facebook page and Twitter account to keep in touch about all things translation and publishing, or indeed just drop us a line.

All the best,

Nora Mahony

Translator Michael Waaler on CASH: I SEE A DARKNESS

As previously noted, translator Michael Waaler's work on the German-language original of Cash: I See a Darkness by Reinhard Kleist was so effective that the sound of the man in black himself was said to ring off the pages. So much so, in fact, that the fact that the prize-winning graphic biography was translated at all went almost entirely unnoticed – but not, of course, here!

Said Waaler of the project and on finding Johnny Cash's voice (again) in English:

"I'd long been a fan of the comic, so I was really excited when Parkbench contacted me about translating it for SelfMadeHero. The level of dedication of all those involved in creating the English edition was fantastic and absolutely essential for what was in some ways a peculiar task. There we were, translating dialogue originally written in German for a huge American icon. On the one hand we had to remain as close to the source material as possible, but on the other hand, adapt it to its extremely distinctive setting. So, I'm really happy the comic's been so well received!"

What, you say? You weren't given a copy of CASH by your delinquent loved ones this holiday season?! Well, well, well. You might just have to treat yourself.