Dear Friends and colleagues,
Fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski is on the agenda for this month's episode of "Encounters with Polish Literature" with translator David French, sponsored by the Polish Cultural Institute New York. Sapkowski is best known for his "Witcher" series, which has spawned a video game and television series in Poland and on Netflix. He also has a historical fantasy, the Hussite trilogy, set during the Hussite wars in Bohemia.
David and I focus on "Season of Storms," a standalone novel set in the world of Geralt of Rivia, the ironic, self-deprecating, monster-slaying "Witcher" (Wiedźmin) trying to maintain his moral center in a corrupt world. As with some of the other translators who have appeared on "Encounters," we discuss the translator's relationship with the author and oversight of the translation, which has been quite varied in all the works we've discussed in the series. We get a sense of the amount of research needed to translate works with such a wide range of reference. We talk about how contemporary everyday life can filter through a completely fantastic world, and how life in the PRL can be reflected in a work that seems at once medieval and futuristic. For readers who haven't had a chance to sample Sapkowski yet, the translator reads some extended passages from "Season of Storms."
For an introduction and bibliography, go to:
https://instytutpolski.pl/newyork/2023/02/07/andrzej-sapkowski-with-david-french/
Or go directly to the video at:
Best regards,
David A. Goldfarb
www.davidagoldfarb.com
Encounters with Polish Literature
Orchestrated: Ignatz Waghalter and the Negro Symphony Orchestra
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