Maureen Robertson, Professor Emeritus of Ancient Chinese and Comparative Literature, was one of Gayatri Spivak’s earliest hires to support the burgeoning field of Translation inside the framework of Comparative Literature. She remained active in every facet of the program for nearly four decades, designing and offering theory courses, leading translation workshops, directing dozens of MFA theses, and serving as the program director for over a decade. The Biennial Fall Symposium and Weissbort-Spivak Lecture are supported by the Maureen Robertson Memorial Fund, and help us to preserve her legacy as a part of the future of the program she stewarded with such resolve and generous spirit.

Join us for the inaugural Maureen Robertson Fall Symposium on Translation & Comparative Poetics, which will focus on the languages and literatures of Asia. Beginning on September 19, translator and scholar of Chinese literature from Arizona State University, Lucas Klein, will join translator and scholar of South Asian literature from the University of Michigan, Christi Merrill, to discuss approaches to translation. On October 10, we will be hosting a reading and conversation with the poet and translator Sawako Nakayasu. Finally, author Yu Yo Yo will participate in a reading and conversation with the translator of her novel Invisible Kitties, Jeremy Tiang, on October 21 at 7:00pm at Prairie Lights Bookstore.