Workshop 1

9:15-10:45

LIC 2.03 (Room “Bucharest”, 2nd floor)

Rokus Hofstede

George Perec, Lieux

Translation Workshop French > Dutch

In a traditional literary translation workshop, each participant translates the same source text. They compare the different versions and the varying approaches then form the core of the workshop. In this translation workshop, participants translate different source texts. As well as gaining translation experience, the primary aim here is to introduce participants to the work of Georges Perec (1936–1982), one of the most original, witty and exciting writers of the twentieth century, and to one of his most dizzying writing projects, the so-called ‘Lieux’ project.

Rokus Hofstede (1959) is a literary translator and essayist. Born in the Netherlands, he spent part of his youth in French-speaking Switzerland and Belgium. After studying social geography, cultural anthropology and philosophy in Groningen and Utrecht, he turned to literary translation. Since 1989, he has translated French-language literature into Dutch, ranging from philosophy and essays (Alain Badiou, Roland Barthes, Pierre Bourdieu, Guy Debord, Bruno Latour) to prose and fiction (Annie Ernaux, Pierre Michon, Régis Jauffret, C. F. Ramuz, Georges Simenon). Together with Martin de Haan, he produced a new Dutch translation of Marcel Proust’s Du côté de chez Swann. He also teaches literary translation workshops at the Vertalersvakschool.

His translations of Georges Perec include Un homme qui dort (Een man die slaapt), Espèces d’espaces (Ruimten rondom), L’Art et la manière d’aborder son chef de service pour lui demander une augmentation (Tips en wenken voor wie zijn afdelingschef om opslag wil vragen), Récits d’Ellis Island (Ellis Island), and an anthology of posthumous writings published in Dutch as Ik ben geboren. In 2021, Hofstede was awarded the Martinus Nijhoff Translation Prize in recognition of his body of work as a translator. He lives in Ghent, Belgium.

🔗 www.hofhaan.nl / www.maximen.nl