Elisa Wouk Almino

Instructor Biography

MA, writer, editor, and literary translator. Ms. Wouk Almino is the deputy editor of Image, the style and culture magazine at the Los Angeles Times. She is the translator of This House by Ana Martins Marques, Scrambler Books (2017), and the editor of Alice Trumbull Mason: Pioneer of American Abstraction (Rizzoli, 2020). She was formerly a senior editor at Hyperallergic. 

Instructor Statement

This class gives students the confidence that translation is not only possible, but fun. It requires only a passion for writing and just a basic knowledge of another language. Translation is also a powerful way to master our writing skills, as we get to learn through the mind of another author. And it is a vital part of literature: many of us grew up reading works in translation perhaps without realizing it.

In this class, you will leave with translations of your own and will have the tools to make thoughtful decisions about who you translate and how. We will closely workshop each other’s pieces—an essential part of translation work. Students will also learn necessary skills, like how to negotiate with the original text, convey foreign concepts, revise, and pitch their work. And, importantly, students will engage in lively discussions about translation, the politics of it, and the various ways translators have approached it.