Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Amanda Gorman's Dutch translator steps down
Criticism that Marieke Lucas Rijneveld was not Black caused her to abandon translating the US inaugural poet's work. Other international publishers have made different choices.
Poet laureate Amanda Gorman stole the show at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration on January 20 when she read her powerful poem, The Hill We Climb. Now, it's being translated into a number of foreign languages — and not without controversy.
Last Friday, Marieke Lucas Rijnveld, the writer chosen to translate Gorman's work into Dutch, declined to take on the assignment following criticism that she was not Black.
She made her decision public in a Tweet: "I am shocked by the uproar around my involvement in the dissemination of Amanda Gorman's message, and I understand people who feel hurt by the choice of (publishing company) Meulenhoff to ask me," said Rijneveld, who also writes poetry. Similar to Gorman, who at age 22 was the youngest US inaugural poet in history, Rijneveld was the youngest person ever to win the International Booker Prize with her novel The Discomfort of Evening, in 2020.
One of the voices calling Rijnveld to step down was Janice Deul, an activist and journalist who wrote an opinion piece in the Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant about the topic.
"Nothing to the detriment of Rijneveld's qualities, but why not chose a writer who is — just like Gorman — spoken word artist, young, female and unapologetically Black."
"Isn't it — to say the least — a missed opportunity to [have hired] Marieke Lucas Rijneveld for this job? She is white, nonbinary, has no experience in this field, but according to Meulenhoff is still the 'dream translator'," wrote Duel. She also named a few possible translators.
General director of the publishing company, Maaike le Noble, said in a statement that the publishing company was now "looking for a team to cooperate to translate Amanda's words and message of hope and inspiration as well as possible and in her spirit."
Dutch is not the only language Gorman's poem will be translated into. A French version will be published in May after having been translated by upand-coming Belgian-Congolese music star Marie-Pierra Kakoma, who goes by the stage name Lous and the Yakuza.
In Germany, Gorman's poem will be published by Hamburgbased publisher Hoffmann und Campe, which has selected a team of three women to work on the translation. "We were very happy to consider the author's wish to pay attention to certain parameters," the publishing company said in a statement. "Each of the three people involved in the translation brings her own expertise to the table," they said.
Selected was 33-year-old activist and author Kübra Gümüşay, whose bookLanguage and Being, exploring the role of language in respectful communication, was a top-seller in Germany. Working with her is Afro-German political scientist, journalist and author Hadija Haruna-Oelker, whose work includes research on migration and racism. Finally, poetry translation specialist Uda Strätling lends her talents, having translated works by African American author Teju Cole and poet-playwright Claudia Rankine, among others, into German.
The Hill We Climb—Den Hügel hinaufwill be published as a bilingual edition in Germany this month. ap/afp (sh)
Correction 04 March, 2021: A previous version of this article erroneously implied that German publisher Ho mann und Campe selected three women to avoid a controversy similar to Meulenho ’s. The German publisher had already selected its translators ahead of the debate in the Netherlands. This error has been corrected.