News from the Division of Languages and Literature

Peter Filkins, professor emeritus at Bard College, has been awarded the inaugural Freudenheim Translation Prize, presented by the Jewish Literary Foundation in partnership with the Times Literary Supplement. This new international award, which is the largest offered by the foundation, celebrates excellence in translated fiction and nonfiction, highlighting the power of Jewish literature to engage diverse audiences. Filkins, who was also formerly Richard B. Fisher Professor of Literature at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and visiting professor of literature at Bard, is recognized for his translation of The Book Against Death by Elias Canetti, published in the U.K. by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2024. In the judges’ citation, chair Boyd Tonkin praised Peter’s “masterly translation,” noting how his thoughtful and deeply attentive rendering brings Canetti’s reflections on life and death vividly into English. 

The Literature Program at Bard emphasizes cultural, linguistic, and geographic diversity, challenging national, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries.

Valeria Luiselli, Sadie Samuelson Levy Professor in Languages and Literature at Bard College, was interviewed in the New Yorker about her story “Predictions and Presentiments,” which appeared in the magazine and is drawn from her upcoming book, Beginning Middle End. The story explores family relationships, stages of life, and the relationship between memory and identity. The audio version will incorporate sounds that Luiselli recorded in Sicily, where both the piece and the novel take place. “Over the past year, we’ve collected field recordings from Sicily and the Aeolians: sea sounds, underwater currents, winds, volcanoes, fire, dust storms, rainstorms, church bells, fish markets,”  Luiselli said. “They are not meant to illustrate or enhance the narrative. Rather, they constitute a kind of emotional undercurrent.” 

The Written Arts Program at Bard encourages students to experiment with their writing in a context sensitive to intellectual, historical, and social realities. Students are encouraged to consider writing as an act of critical and creative engagement, a way of interrogating and translating the world.