On Wednesday 23rd September, the English Department was delighted to welcome back Milly Bell, who was in Year 13 last year.

Milly delivered a thought-provoking talk on the topic ‘When does translation become a new work of literature?’. Milly began by looking at different translations of Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, considering how our biases and cultural experiences can shape the choices we make when translating. Milly then considered contemporary fiction, discussing the reasons behind the different translations of the title of Camus’ novella ‘L’etranger’, and even looking at the work of Korean female novelist Han Kang.

She encouraged the audience to consider translation as a form of adaptation and to debate the degree of liberty that a translator should be permitted to take. It was a highly philosophical and challenging talk which left us all pondering the issues very deeply!

Milly is about to begin her first term studying Classics at Oxford University – we wish her the very best of luck.