Melange vol.7 April 2003

Poems
Just Like You
flower of the night

Round Table Talk
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Novel
Adonis Blue (6)
Adonis Blue (7)

Relay Writing
Cafe Evergreen

Notes on Group Writers

- The 8th Continent on the Guardian

The article which appeared in local newspaper Guardian on 16 May 2002 (Photo: Courtesy of Manawatu Guardian)

E: Since we had an interview in the Massey library, he mistakenly thought we were Massey students and it was mistakenly published in the paper.
M: That was a good thing we had a lot of interactions with the local community and chances to communicate with various people.

(updated info: we've found Bevan's name as a news writer in Palmerston North's local newspaper Manawatu Evening Standard)

- How difficult was it to translate your thoughts into English?

M: What was more difficult for me was translating novels compared with poems. I found poems relatively easier because they are shorter. I have got used to writing academic essays in English, but I'm not used to or have never learnt how to write novels in English. It was different from what I was writing at my college, so I had difficulty finding good words or expressions from dictionaries. Even I was not sure if the words in my dictionaries are the same as what I meant in my novel.

It was really nerve-wracking for me to translate my Japanese novel into English. I wrote the novel in Japanese, but had never thought of publishing it in English, so I hadn't considered the case. Even though I was not confident if my Japanese novel could carry some messages to the readers - so it was much more uncertain in English. I was totally unsure if the reader can understand it. My hardest part is writing stories, including relay writing.

E: I also write my poems first in Japanese and translate into English. The reason is I have my favourite words or ways or writing in Japanese, so it was easier for me. I was often not sure how the words I choose sound to the native English speakers, but I think that's one way to let my works know to other people. So, the process of translating was sometimes just struggling with my dictionaries.

C: I think writing essays and literature are different. Essays should be just logical, but literature needs creativity. For me the most natural way to write literature is using my first language. But when I translate my works into English, there is a conflict. Sometimes the meanings behind my Chinese words disappear. Sometimes I even refused to translate my words into English so I wanted to keep my original one and distribute it. I feel disappointed after I have translated my writings. Translation is sometimes quite tiring, but I still keep doing it.

I: I don't translate when I write something. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't necessarily mean that my English is great - there are many good translations as well as bad writers of their first language. I just feel that a piece of writing becomes a quite different work when translated.

When watching movies I prefer subtitles - I never watch dubbed movies... It's real awful!! It's a bit different story but I watched the famous BBC TV series Pride and Prejudice (the original story was written by Jane Austin) in English and then recently I started to read the book translated into Japanese. Now I feel very funny that Elizabeth and Mr Darcy (the main characters) are completely different people.

M: Ha-ha, I agree with you. I tend to avoid the Japanese-dubbed films originally in English.
Richard: Yeah, I understand. Even just watching Japanese animation, when you actually listen to Japanese, it's a whole difference. It's like "Ghost in the Shell". It loses its meaning in English but when I actually see it in Japanese with English subtitles, it is a lot better.
C: It's like some jokes in one language disappear if you translate it into another language.
(Everybody nods)

R: I guess all languages are like that. It's hard to get the meaning from a certain language. been a 'tone' language, Japanese has different tones for the same word that give slightly different meanings.
I: I think a translation is a piece of art itself but I don't want what I write to change. That's why I try to write in English without translating.

M: Apart from the novel I wrote it long time before we launched Melange, I do both. I sometimes write poems in English from the beginning. In that case, I often keep Japanese words or translation out of mind while I'm writing: the products are the English poems independent of my Japanese vocabulary or ideas.

- What's behind pen names -the secret of 'Margaret Grace' -

M: I'm interested in where these pennames come from.
C: I chose "Shyr Tzrr", which means a small stone in indigenous Taiwanese language, just as I randomly opened a dictionary, and from the page opened, I picked up the word which caught my eyes.
M: (laughter) How about you, Emiri, about "Akari Takamine"?
E: "Akari" is one of my favourite words. It means twilight. "Taka" means high and "mine" means a peak of a mountain so "Takamine" means a high peak of a mountain. The surname was named after "Kotaro Takamura", who is my favourite Japanese poet.

M: My pen name, "Margaret Grace" is a word play of my first name - Margaret's nickname, "Meg" somewhat resembles "Megumi", which means "Grace" in Japanese. Some people didn't realise that I used a pen name.
I: Oh, Megumi and Margaret were the same person? Why didn't you tell me?? Hehehe... Joke.
M: (laughter) The reasons are: I wanted to try to be a totally different person; I was just embarrassed to use my real name.But the main reason why I chose an English name is because I supposed a Japanese name didn't fit to English.

What's more, if people look at a Japanese name on the top of my works, they may have a preoccupation that a non-native English speaker has made a special effort to write it in her second language. But if it is an English name, they don't pay attention to it but only focus on the contents of writing. That's my intention to disguise myself (laughter). Some people didn't realise that and thought Margaret Grace was a Kiwi.

C: You also didn't write anything about Japan in the notes on writers. That's cheating (laughter).
M: I didn't want the readers to have a preconception before they read my works. Some parts might sound a little strange to native speakers - I'm not sure how much I achieved my intention though.

I: I think it is a good idea to have a different name when you do some creative writing. It may depend on people but you can be a different person and then can express your feeling more freely.

A haiku by Richard Sweltering summer Sweat shimmering upon the brow Baked like a lobster

R: A lot of writers hide their true names. I remember Steven King once used to write books under another name. I actually use a pen name too. We've all done it sometime (laughter).

(Continued to Part 3)

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