MESA, Arizona -- April 29, 2024 -- Todd Alan Fredson, Ph.D., Mesa Community College English faculty, was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Barrios Book in Translation Prize for Zakwato & Loglêdou’s Peril. The book is a translation of two collections by Azo Vauguy, a Bété poet whose homeland is in West Africa. Vauguy wrote poetry and for several periodicals, focusing on politics and cultural affairs.

This is Fredson’s fifth translation of a poetry collection. Although he did not receive the top award at the ceremony held in New York City in March, it is a prestigious honor to be a finalist in what is considered one of the top three awards in literary translation.

For those interested in translation work, knowing multiple languages is, of course, important. But Fredson emphasizes that translation work extends beyond knowing any given language, noting there is always another way that an idea could have been given shape in language. He adds that working with multiple languages in mind maintains an agile thought process, which has all sorts of implications for our emotional lives.

“Perhaps, as far as translating goes,” said Fredson, “even more important than knowing another language is understanding the cultures that the author you are translating is working within. AI might be producing complex linguistic translations soon, but it will lack the cultural familiarity of human exchange and relationships. I translate poetry out of West Africa because I have had experiences living there that allow me to deeply understand the history, landscape and imaginations that the authors there are creating from. I lived for two years in a village without running water or electricity, as a civil war was starting. And I lived in a city in Côte d’Ivoire years later, Abidjan, a four million-person city with a rich international life full of economic and religious and cultural differences. I am able to understand the fullness of the language, of the words and all those little things regarding tone and texture and allusion.”

Fredson offers this final advice for aspiring literary translators, “Aside from a language and cultural familiarity, I think another crucial aspect for making nuanced translations is simply having a committed writing life oneself. That I am a poet before I am a translator is what gives me insight into the poetry that I translate. I would say that there is a beautiful reciprocity here, too: I have learned at least as much about writing poetry by translating it as I have from any other sources -- from my graduate studies, for instance. I think anyone interested in being a creative writer should seriously engage with translation as part of their training.”

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Media contact: Dawn Zimmer, dawn.zimmer@mesacc.edu or 480-461-7892

Mesa Community College is nationally recognized for university transfer, career and technical programs, civic engagement, service-learning and innovative approaches to education. On average MCC students provide 23,000 hours of community service annually. For more than 50 years, the college has served as a resource for education, workforce development and lifelong learning. Host to more than 25,400 students annually, MCC offers degree and certificate programs at its two campuses and additional locations through a combination of modalities. MCC is transforming how it champions student success through Guided Pathways with Integrated Support Services and a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. MCC is a Hispanic Serving Institution with nearly 50% of its students being the first in their families to attend college. MCC has the largest indigenous student population of all the Maricopa Community Colleges; its American Indian Institute serves students from the 22 federally recognized Arizona tribes as well as out-of-state tribes. The diverse student body includes hundreds of international students from around the world. Award-winning faculty are dedicated to student success, providing the education and training that empowers MCC students to attain their goals. Located in the East Valley of Phoenix, Arizona, on the traditional territories of the O'odham, Piipaash and Yavapai Peoples, MCC is one of 10 colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District. Visit mesacc.edu to learn more.

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