Interview with CAT's Olivia E. Sears
by Kirk Anderson

Reprinted from

January 02, 2002

The Center for Art in Translation (CAT) is a California non-profit organization established to promote translation through art, education and community outreach. Since its founding a year ago, CAT has launched two very successful programs: the Literary Program, and its education program, Poetry Inside Out (PIO). The Literary Program includes the annual publication of the acclaimed journal TWO LINES, as well as a series of public readings of international literature in the Bay Area. PIO brings literary translators into San Francisco Bay Area Public Schools to work with elementary and middle school children to demonstrate the benefits of bilingualism, to encourage language-learning and to promote reading and translation skills among bilingual youth. CAT's Executive Director, Olivia E. Sears, has been kind enough to sit down with us and share the story of CAT's founding, as well as its success and vision for the future.

What was the inspiration behind the Center for Art in Translation? How did it all begin?

The seeds were planted years ago in a freshman English course. There was a moment when it hit me that most of the classics we were reading -- everyone but Shakespeare -- had been filtered through a translator. Homer, Virgil, Dante, Cervantes -- of course, we all knew they weren't written in English, but it was the first time I really understood that the words on the page did not belong to any of these great authors. They were the words of some mysterious go-between, some translator X.

Years later, while working on a graduate degree in Italian at Stanford, I began translating a series of beautiful poems from the sixteenth century as part of my dissertation. Sometimes I'd hit a fork in a translation, a key Italian phrase or word with no near relative in English, and I'd have to make a very important choice about which direction to take. Any choice in English, of course, would be at best a fuzzy approximation of the Italian -- of this magnificent poetic language -- and each would leave vital elements of the original Italian behind. What to do? Well, it turns out that's a rather weighty question, and one that the other literature graduate students were struggling with, too, as do all translators.

Imagine the first translator of the Bible -- what an awesome responsibility he had! And what a responsibility all translators have. When you think about it, they're the only real bridge between the world's cultures. Without translators, you have many worlds operating in parallel, oblivious to one another. That's not only a shame, not only a cheat of the world's richness and diversity, but, as we've learned in recent months, it can be deadly dangerous too. It seems obvious to translators, but very few people, at least in the United States, have any awareness of the importance of translation, much less the subtleties of the craft. That may be changing somewhat, now that we are fighting a war against a man whose guilt or innocence, at least in the eyes of much of the world, seems to hang on the accuracy of a videotape's translation. And translation is not a flawlessly mechanical process but a difficult, creative and uncertain process.

So out of that epiphany came Two Lines, which, in addition to publishing great literature from around the world, gives translators a forum in which to discuss the challenges of their crucial art. It puts the translators front and center, which is really where they should be. The response has been great, and Two Lines has become a real pillar of the translators' community. But with a literary journal, you've obviously reaching a largely literary audience, and you end up, to a certain degree, preaching to the choir.

Our desire to keep boosting translation's profile led to the creation of our education program, Poetry Inside Out (PIO). By sending translators into elementary schools and teaching kids how to translate, we're helping to raise a whole future generation of adults who will understand translation, who will know how to go back and forth across the bridges between cultures, and who will, we hope, show others the way too. And, best of all, they will read and enjoy poetry.

It's really the mission of CAT to build and maintain those cultural bridges, whether through Two Lines, through PIO or through the public readings and cultural forums we sponsor.

It's vital, indispensable work, and, as the kids in PIO will tell you, it's a lot of fun. To quote one of our third graders, "Poetry really rocks."

What sort of response have CAT's programs received thus far?

The response has been fantastic. Teachers, students, parents and translators are all absolutely thrilled about PIO. It's a completely original, unprecedented program. Schools around San Francisco are clamoring to get our teachers into their classrooms. This year we've extended the program to Berkeley and Oakland as well, and we're about to give a presentation in Southern California in hopes of expanding there.

The great thing about PIO is that it's so simple, yet so profound. Kids love to participate, but along the way, they learn about the benefits of being bilingual and they boost their reading and translation skills. That's critical stuff, especially for kids whose first language isn't English. It's great for their confidence to discover that their first language can be a big asset, not an obstacle to learning English, as many of them have been taught to view it.

Meanwhile, Two Lines continues to garner rave reviews, and we're now getting ready to enter our eighth year of publication, which is an achievement in-and-of-itself in the literary world. Our literary readings are always thronged, and our cultural forums have been big hits, reaching a much broader audience than Two Lines alone.

How can translators lend a hand to support CAT's efforts?

Well, the first, most obvious thing translators can do is lend a financial hand. As a non-profit, CAT depends on donations to survive, and, while we've had a lot of success winning grants and awards, the bulk of our funding comes from individuals. If every translator in the United States sent us $30, CAT would have the resources to do great things for a very, very long time. Translators who haven't picked up a copy of Two Lines should certainly do that, too, and ask their local library to subscribe. Send a few copies to friends as gifts and help spread the word. And keep translating! Send submissions to Two Lines, host readings of international literature in your community, teach kids about other languages and cultures. Be an evangelist for the craft.

What does the future hold for CAT?

More of the same, we hope, but more of it. We'd like to expand PIO throughout California and also into other language groups, like Chinese and Vietnamese. The percentage of foreign-born residents in California is the highest it's been in a hundred years. That presents a real challenge and opportunity for California and for CAT. We also hope to develop a kind of PIO kit for teachers around the country who would like to implement some of the lessons. We're also looking to expand our program of readings and cultural forums to other major cities, particularly in collaboration with local arts and literary organizations around the country. You know, bridges and more bridges.

For further information on CAT's programs and events, visit their Web site at www.CATranslation.org or contact Olivia E. Sears, Executive Director, Center for Art in Translation, by telephone (415-512-8812) or by e-mail (osears@CATranslation.org).

Kirk Anderson is an ATA-accredited translator (Spanish and French into English and English into Spanish) who also translates from Chinese. He specializes in legal, commercial and marketing texts and has translated scripts for all kinds of video. Kirk can be reached at paellero@aol.com.

--MultiLingual Press