Of special interest to translators

If you study/read/translate Chinese literature or Japanese literature, then you already know this name: Burton Watson. Dr. Watson, with a PhD in Chinese studies from Columbia University and numerous awards over a long career including several P.E.N. translation prizes, has finally published his one and only personal memoir. China At Last is available in English and Japanese from Seven Grasses Publishing House (Nana Kusa Shobo) in Japan.

China At Last gets its title from the fact that, although Dr. Watson studied and translated Chinese poetry for over 30 years, it wasn't until old age that cold war politics allowed him (a US citizen) to actually set foot in China. In his memoir, he writes about what he saw and how he felt about modern Chinese realities compared to what he knew from traditional literature. Of special interest to translators is the copy of his lecture on the art of translation included near the end of this memoir.

For more information, please follow the link to seven-grasses.com