Individual residencies / Olot
MARTA JORDAN
From Friday, 22 November 2019 to Friday, 29 November 2019
Bio
Marta Jordan is a translator and popularizer of the Spanish and Latin American literature in Poland. Her activities date from the 70’s of the XX century when she won the First Prize in the National Competition of Literary Translation, for the translation of three short stories by Julio Cortázar. From that time, his works have become one of her main interests, together with the creation of other contemporary writers such as Isabel Allende, Antonio Skármeta and Carlos Montero. Another field of her activity is the Spanish drama by Juan Mayorga and José Sanchis Sinisterra whose plays she has been translating and promoting in Poland for more than twenty years. As a member of the Polish Literary Translators Association she frequently participates in seminars and conferences in Poland and abroad. In 2019 the Polish Association of Authors ZAiKS awarded her the Literary Prize for outstanding achevements in the field of translation.
Project
During my residency in Faber I will translate the play Vagas noticias de Klamm (2009) by an excellent Spanish contemporary playwright, José Sanchis Sinisterra. This will be my third translation of his work: in 1999 I translated his monodrama Marsal Marsal and in 2000, his play El cerco de Leningrado, both published in the Polish monthly of contemporary dramaturgy DIALOG and put on stage in Polish theaters. The universalism of the play Vagas noticias de Klamm, a tragicomedy dealing with the inhuman relations between the employers and workers in the modern world, ensures its success in Poland.
An idyllic place that I already miss.
On November 22-29, 2019 I had the opportunity to spend a week in Olot where I obtained an individual residency granted by the Faber-Residency Foundation.
The experience turned out to be extremely fruitful and enriching. I was able to accomplish both the purpose of my stay (to finish translating and reviewing the draft translation of José Sanchís Sinisterra’s work Vagas noticias de Klamm) and to establish contacts with other residents, especially with the Russian writer Ana Matvieyeva who, like me, is an admirer of the work of my favorite author, Julio Cortázar. Ana, who is also a journalist and collaborates with cultural portals in Russia, gave me an interview where I told her about my experiences as a translator of the Argentine author’s work as well as his guide and interpreter during his visit to Poland in 1978.
I was also able to communicate with Jordi Casanovas, the author of the work Andorra which would be my next translation, for which I already have his authorization, and with Marta Buchaca who has already sent me her works.
The Hotel Riu Fluvia is an elegant, welcoming and quiet place, and offers excellent conditions for intellectual work that demands maximum concentration and attention. To this, we must add an invaluable assistance and support from the people in charge of the residence: Gavina Freixa, Pepa Pasamón and Pau Ávila, who – apart from being an inexhaustible source of information and contacts – at a human level, know how to create a warm family atmosphere among the residents, thus contributing to create cultural ties over any border, language, race or origin.
I cannot fail to mention the impeccable service and attention of the employees of the Hotel Riu Fluvia, and the delicious dishes served during the dinners, true banquets that culminated each day.
The city of Olot, with its narrow streets, its parks and museums, and its beautiful landscapes of forests and volcanoes became for me a memory of an idyllic place that I already miss and that I hope I can visit again in the future. THANK YOU!