Translating Indigenous Writing

This panel offers conversations with artists who focus on translating the work of Indigenous creators. The panelists include Mathilde Magga, Arthur Malcolm Dixon, and Wendy Call. Moderated by Michelle Gil-Montero, the panel will celebrate Indigenous work in translation and explore why the translation of Indigenous work remains a crucial and necessary practice. This panel will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing.

You can purchase your own copy of the authors’ works at City of Asylum Bookstore.

About the Panelists:

Mathilde Magga (she/her), a Sámi woman from Tromso in northern Norway, has spent the last six years studying in the Seattle area. She earned her BA at Pacific Lutheran University in 2020 and her MA in English literature with a focus on Indigenous literature from the University of Washington in 2022, and is currently working towards her PhD also at University of Washington. She is also working on a book project that she hopes to publish in both Norwegian and Northern Sámi.

Arthur Malcolm Dixon (he/him) Arthur Malcolm Dixon is co-founder, lead translator, and Managing Editor of Latin American Literature Today. As a translator, he focuses on poetry, nonfiction, and works written in Indigenous languages. His book-length translations include the novels Immigration: The Contest by Carlos Gámez Pérez and There Are Not So Many Stars by Isaí Moreno, both from Katakana Editores, and the verse collection Intensive Care by Arturo Gutiérrez Plaza from Alliteration Publishing. His work has been featured in Asymptote, Boston Review, International Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, Literary Hub, Pilgrimage Magazine, Poesía, Trafika Europe, Words Without Borders, and World Literature Today. He also works as a community interpreter in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a Tulsa Artist Fellow.

Wendy Call (she/her) is a nonfiction writer, literary translator, editor, and educator. She is author of the award-winning nonfiction book No Word for Welcome. She is co-editor of the craft anthology Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide and the new, annual Best Literary Translations anthology. She is the translator of three collections of poetry by Indigenous Mexican poets. She is a Winter 2023 fellow at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation and Fall 2023 Distinguished Visiting Writer at Cornell College and Translator in Residence at the University of Iowa. Working as an editor and educator, Wendy lives in Seattle, on Duwamish land, and in Oaxaca, on Mixtec and Zapotec land.

Christian Elguera is a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Mary’s University (San Antonio-TX). Previously, he was Lecturer in Spanish at The University of Oklahoma (2019-2021). He has a PhD in Iberian and Latin American Languages and Literatures from The University of Texas at Austin (2020). In this institution, he also completed a Graduate Portfolio in Native American and Indigenous Studies. He also teaches classes in the Graduate Program of Literature at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Lima, Peru). 

About the Moderator:

Michelle Gil-Montero (she/her) is an Argentine-American poet-translator. She has translated several books by contemporary Latin American poets, including Maria Negroni, Valerie Mejer Caso, and Andres Ajens. Her work has been published widely and supported by the NEA, Howard Foundation, and Fulbright. She is a professor at Saint Vincent College and publisher of Eulalia Books. 

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant will be closed.