What I learned about translation from Zawacki’s event is that translation is the art of interpreting the message of the author while also adding your own perspective. Zawacki explained this multiple times in between his reading that bits in pieces of the poems were translated from his point of view. Sometimes in translation, especially if the original author is no longer living it is on the translator to interpret the poem/ story to the best of their abilities since there is no one to ask for advice. For example, he mentioned that sometimes in translations he adds current events such as Tina Turner or the World Cup. Zawacki also explained the difficulties of translating such as finding English words that correlate with French terms. For instance in the “Glow Worm” the second poem “Word for Word” in French had to be translated to “Word to Moe” in order to fit the theme of the other poems that ended with”-oe”. Another complication faced by Zawacki while translating Sébastien Smirou poems was how strict the requirements were. Zawacki had to follow specific guidelines set by the author such as having the identical font, space, and format to the original French poem. Although, these tasks were difficult Zawacki expressed that he felt that this, later on, benefited him and helped him become a better translator. Overall, Zawacki addressed that translating from French to English can be hard at times due to French being a romantic language and English being harsh. As well, what he values most when translating is the flow of the poems and the sound of the text rather than translating the text word for word.

– Julienne Guzman