The Asian Festival Of Children's Content 2016 starts tomorrow!

This year, Japan is the country of focus at the Asian Festival of Children's Content. Among the many tracks will be one on translation, and SCBWI International Translator Coordinator Avery Fischer Udagawa has a great roundup of the Japanese children's literature "dream team" that will be presenting at the conference here. That "dream team" includes Akiko Beppu, editor; Cathy Hirano, translator; Kazuo Iwamura, author-illustrator; Kyoko Sakai, editor; Naomi Kojima, illustrator; and Holly Thompson, Mariko Nagai, and Trevor Kew, authors who write from and about Japan in English.

There's also a pre-conference interview you can check out at Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations, (Cynthia will also be presenting at the conference.) In the interview with award-winning translator Cathy Hirano, Cathy explains how she focuses on the author's voice in her process,

"With literary translation ... I find the translation process more personal and subjective. The author has written the book for me and I’m translating it so that others can enjoy the same experience. In the initial stages in particular, I don’t worry about the readership and instead focus far more on the author, on his or her style, choice of words, rhythm—on the voice. I’m quite faithful to the original. It is only when I go back and reread it, that I regain some objectivity and become rather ruthless. But I am still trying to convey an experience rather than just content or meaning." - Cathy Hirano

Sounds like an amazing event - I'll be following along on social media with the hashtag #AFCC2016. Join me there, and in cheering on all our SCBWI members in Singapore!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee