CBCP x OIW webinar series ‘Explorations in Translation for Children’ El Cuento Fantasma/ The Invisible Story

The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing in partnership with Outside in World, the organisation dedicated to promoting and exploring world literature and children’s books in translation, are delighted to announce the latest event in their seminar series on translation for children:

This webinar will explore Jaime Gamboa and Wen Hsu Chen’s El Cuento Fantasma, its selection as part of Outside in World’s Reading the Way project, and how it came to be translated by Daniel Hahn for Lantana as The Invisible Story.

This online webinar is free & open to all. To register for the Zoom link, please click here.

The world is full of stories. Some are as long as lizards, others so short that they never even make it to The End. But the invisible story is unlike any other story because no one has ever read it! It lives hidden in the darkest corner of the library, far from where the famous tales, written in gold letters, shine. One day, a blind reader approaches the story’s trembling pages. This reader is unlike any reader the invisible story has ever encountered. And when she runs her fingertips over the book’s white pages, it is astonished by what she finds. A beautifully inclusive tale about sight-loss in which we learn that not all stories are meant to be read with the eyes.

Speakers:

Jaime Gamboa is an award-winning Costa Rican author and musician. His books have been translated into English, Danish, Korean, Japanese, Turkish, Chinese and French.

Wen Hsu Chen is a Costa Rican artist and architect who graduated with BFA Honors from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her watercolor and cut-out paper technique has earned her multiple awards, including the Grand Prize at the NOMA Concours 2008.

Alex Strick is a children’s book author, consultant, reviewer, and co-founder of Outside in World, with a passion for putting children’s views and voices first.

Kyla is a student at New College Worcester, the independent school for students aged 11–19 who are blind or partially sighted. Kyla is an enthusiastic braille reader.

Daniel Hahn is a celebrated British writer, editor and translator. In 2020, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature and in 2023, he won the Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature.