JoLT returns home to launch in Long Room Hub

The sixth volume of JoLT was launched tonight in the Long Room Hub

JoLT Editor Andrew Beazley with Deputy Editor Rory O’Sullivan

How many academics does it take to open a bottle of prosecco?

Attendees at tonight’s launch of Journal of Literary Translation’s (JoLT) newest volume will know the answer to this question as one unopened bottle was passed around the room with the cork defeating most. 

But obstinate corks aside, the launch of the 6th volume of JoLT at the Hoey Ideas Space in the Long Room Hub went off without a hitch. The venue proved an excellent space for the event, allowing contributors and attendees to chat in a relaxed atmosphere.

The volume, which has the theme of Homecoming, features translations in eight languages including Ancient Greek, Japanese and Irish. Among the pieces translated was the Irish Folk lullaby Oró mo Bháidín, in which the author Padraig Mac Piaras writes about longing to to return to his boat which he viewed as home.

Also included in the volume are translations of the Patrick Kavanagh poems, A Star, and Innocence, into Japanese by Hitomi Nakamura, an associate professor at Ritsumeikan, Japan.

Editor Andrew Beazley made a short speech in which he thanked the contributors, Deputy Editor Rory O’Sullivan, and Peter Arnds, Academic Advisor to JolT and Department Head of Germanic Studies in Trinity.

Speaking to Trinity News Beazley said: “JoLT is here because of the hard work of all our contributors. I want to thank all of them for being part of this. It was a wonderful experience to launch Vol. VI in the Long Room Hub!”

Copies of JoLT are available at Trinity Publications stands across campus.

Additional reporting by Mary Hartnett, Niamh Lynch and Emma McCarthy