On May 10th the New York Circle of Translators held an Open-Mic Night at the Cornelia Street Cafe in the City. This was an opportunity for locally based translators to read from some of their own works of translation, or from the works of their colleagues.
The program featured a variety of different works and everyone had an enjoyable time. Jean Campbell read some of the poems of the late Eileen Hennessey, including “My Life and Birth”, “Silence was Golden”, and “About making my home”. In addition, other translators read from a variety of different texts: a children’s book, a collection of essays, and a novel to name a few.
Laura Wolfson read from her new essay collection “For Single Mothers Working as Train Conductors”. Themes that were explored (both tenderly and humorously) were how to read Proust on a crowded subway and life after a downgrade in job status due to ill-health.
Kate Deimling, the event organizer and a former Program Director of the Circle, reads an excerpt from Anne Percin’s novel translated from the French, “My Mother, the Crab and Me”. The extract highlighted a difficult mother-daughter relationship.
Stacy Smith reads an essay translated from the Japanese called “Nature: Hearbreak’s Provider and Healer” by Man Arai.
Mary Escalante read from a picture book by Thornton Cline that she had translated. It tells the story of a young boy who didn’t want to practice the violin!
NYCT Program Director, Aaron Hebenstreit, reads from Valeria Yermishova’s translation of a Russian book: “1919 – A Treat”. Yermishova is a past President of the Circle.
Paula Azevedeo read “Traces” which deals with family dynamics after a funeral. 
As usual a good time was had by all. This has become a yearly event.
