Nissan Seminar: Set My Heart Bonfire? (Dis)embodiment in Japanese Fiction and Literary Translation (Helen O'Horan)

Convener(s): Professor Hugh Whittaker and Professor Kristi Govella

We’re a day too late for Mr. Fawkes, but plenty of sparks still flying tonight. Join us, on the one-year anniversary of Suzuki Izumi’s most recent anglophone rebirth, as we delve into the process of translating emotions and psyches through words and movement. Alice Baldock and Helen O’Horan will be in conversation about the avant-garde in 1970s–1980s Japan, bodies and gender across languages, working with modern classics, Japanese sci-fi, and speculative “fiction.” And trashy dating shows! The session will also be a chance to hear about the practicalities of professional translation in a range of creative and technical fields.

Helen O’Horan is a linguist based in London. She works mostly as a Japanese-to-English translator, splitting her time between literary projects, feature films, & reality TV. She is currently translating fiction by sci-fi legend Tsutsui Yasutaka for Penguin Books & Gollancz. Her translation of 1970s-bad-gal Suzuki Izumi’s final novel, Set My Heart On Fire, was published by Verso Books last year. You can also see her recent work with Netflix on Babanba Banban Vampire, a romcom about a bathhouse-dwelling vampire. Helen studied Japanese as an undergrad at Wadham College a decade ago, when she narrowly escaped from between the moving bookshelves in the BJL more than once.