Meet the World: Translating Identity

In this Meet the World event, we explore explorations of identity in contemporary German writing now available in English translation. Our discussion focuses on two books – Identitti, by Mithu Sanyal, translated by Alta L. Price, and 1,000 Coils of Fear, by Olivia Wenzel, translated by Priscilla Layne.

In Identitti, Nivedita, a doctoral student who blogs about race with the help of Hindu goddess Kali, is in awe of Saraswati, her superstar postcolonial and race studies professor. But Nivedita’s life and sense of self are upturned when it emerges that Saraswati is actually white. A darkly comedic tour de force, Identitti showcases the outsized power of social media in the current debates around identity politics and the power of claiming your own voice.

Engaging in a witty question and answer with herself, the narrator of 1,000 Coils of Fear takes stock of our rapidly changing times, sometimes angry, sometimes amused, sometimes afraid, and always passionate. Heart-rending, opinionated, and wry, Olivia Wenzel’s remarkable debut novel is a clear-sighted investigation into origins and belonging, the roles society wants to force us into and why we need to resist them, and the freedoms and fears that being the odd one out brings.

The conversation with Mithu Sanyal, Alta L. Price and Priscilla Layne is chaired by Eluned Gramich.

This event is in partnership with the British Centre for Literary Translation, Goethe-Institut London and New Books in German.

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Видео Meet the World: Translating Identity канала National Centre for Writing