Katherine E. Young
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katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Katherine E. Young
@katherineeyoung.bsky.social
1K followers 680 following 110 posts
Poet Laureate emerita, Arlington, VA. Translator of Akram Aylisli (fiction), Anna Starobinets (memoir), & Russian-language poets from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. https://katherine-young-poet.com/
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Reposted by Katherine E. Young
marisakabas.bsky.social
New — While some states have received SNAP benefits for November and USDA is supposedly pushing through all federal payments soon, that doesn’t erase the psychological terror of the last few weeks.

I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
The voices of SNAP
Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 7, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
bergstrombookstore.bsky.social
Mark your calendars! Our next author event will be on November 23rd with Tatsiana Zamirovskaya! Planned for 3pm, watch our social media for more details or contact us directly.
November 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
writesloud.bsky.social
Connecticut friends!!! 🥰🥰🥰
adrianf.bsky.social Adrian Dallas Frandle @adrianf.bsky.social · 5d
CT & Tri-State friends, please join us!

Very much looking forward to this book talk with @writesloud.bsky.social in a few weeks!

obodoserendipitybooks.com/event/2025-1...
Author Event flyer for Hannah Grieco Join Us Saturday November 15th at 4:00 pm (a QR code says "scan the code for your ticket!") at Obodo Serendipity Books book talk and signing 3588 Main St, Stratford, CT 06614 PH: 203.209.9036 The flyer shows a copy of the orange book "First Kicking, Then Not" Stories by Hannah Grieco, and an author photo of Grieco herself
November 5, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
twolinespress.com
The 2026 Stevns Prize is open for submissions from now until February 1, 2026! www.stevnstranslationprize.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
chloeyelenamiller.bsky.social
I'm excited to be reading here - join us!

We invite you to the second iteration of Taking Heart: DC Writers on Courage, organized by the DC/MD chapter of Writers for Democratic Action. We will gather in the unique Dupont Underground art space (beneath Dupont Circle) on Sunday, November 16 at 2 p.m.
November 3, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
bergstrombookstore.bsky.social
Two important reminders! Don't forget to change your clocks, & join us in Kensington (Maryland) at 1 p.m. for a poetry reading with Ukrainian poet Iryna Vikyrchak & translator Nina Murray. The event is free & open to the public. Thank you to @razomforukraine.org for making this event possible!
November 1, 2025 at 10:11 PM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
I'm out of town, but if you're in the DC area, don't miss this one! Who doesn't love a good ekphrastic poem?
chloeyelenamiller.bsky.social Chloe Yelena Miller @chloeyelenamiller.bsky.social · 12d
This is tonight! Hope you can join us!
register here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/ekphrastic...
chloeyelenamiller.bsky.social Chloe Yelena Miller @chloeyelenamiller.bsky.social · 19d
DMV friends:

One week from today I'll be reading poems in response to art by women artists alongside other writers sharing their work in response to art, too.

I hope you can join us! It should be a wonderful, interdisciplinary event hosted by IA&A at Hillyer and The Inner Loop.

link below -
October 30, 2025 at 5:21 PM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Joining up with some mighty fine writers and translators for this one on November 20--don't miss it!
enaselimo.bsky.social Ena Selimović @enaselimo.bsky.social · 20d
Please mark your calendars and share with friends! An evening of readings and mingling—in the heart of Washington DC. This will serve as a fundraising celebration of Central Asian and Southeast European literature and literary translation!
October 21, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
thepoetslizard.bsky.social
Thank you so much Kelli Russell Agodon and Melissa Studdard for such beautifully attentive readings of my poems. 💕💕💕

youtu.be/mEwJNvG8m6c?...
Poems You Need, Episode 25: Luisa A. Igloria
YouTube video by Poems You Need
youtu.be
October 13, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
puncturedlines.bsky.social
San Francisco Bay Area: We’re a group of immigrant writers and translators born in the former USSR, here to push back against the growing threat to freedom of expression. Come to our Lit Crawl event at Ruth’s Table (3160 21st Street) on October 25, 2025, 5 pm.
@litquake.org #BayArea
A flyer displaying ten author's photos alongside three quarters perimeter. In the center left, in black, title of the event: OWNING FEAR, REACHING FOR FREEDOM: POST-SOVIET WRITERS AND TRANSLATORS SPEAK OUT on the right, in red: LIT CRAWL SAN FRANCISCO Below, in Blue: Sat OCTOBER 25TH 5-6 PM AT RUTH'S TABLE 2160 21st Street Sponsored by California Humanities and Ruth's Table
October 9, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
jencalleja.bsky.social
Annual reminder that without literary translators, most Nobel Prize-winning authors couldn’t be read by the committee/readers, so celebrate them too. Congrats @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social et al! This isn’t taking away from the author, it’s adding recognition of the miracle/labour/skill of translation.
October 9, 2025 at 11:24 AM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Hear, hear! A translator who has labored long and hard in the vineyards--I can't think of anyone who deserves this more!
October 8, 2025 at 5:38 PM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Fabulous small museum that gives a good home to local poets--please support them if you can!
mocounderground.bsky.social MoCo Underground Writers Showcase [Julia Tagliere] @mocounderground.bsky.social · Oct 7
Hey, friends, you know how I love my little local Sandy Spring Museum, where I’ve hosted the Writers Showcase since 2019? They’re doing a big Founder Day fundraiser today; it’d mean so much to me if you’d check it out: givebutter.com/SSMFoundersD...
Every little bit helps, thank you! Mwah! ❤️🙏🏻🥳🌻
Sandy Spring Museum - Founders' Day of Giving
Celebrate the founding of Sandy Spring Museum. Make your gift today!
givebutter.com
October 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
littranslate.bsky.social
Interested in learning more about one country’s long-overshadowed literary tradition? Check out this list of ten important Ukrainian books in translation, featuring two of ALTA member Nina Murray’s translations. At Lit Hub: buff.ly/M4W0HqC @literaryhub.bsky.social
Ten Titles in Translation That Celebrate Ukraine
For decades, Ukraine remained in the shadow of the Russian imperial discourse. Foreign readers had access to only a limited number of translations of Ukrainian literature. Today, fortunately the nu…
lithub.com
September 30, 2025 at 2:01 PM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Remarkable, moving piece by @enaselimo.bsky.social!
October 3, 2025 at 12:00 AM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Tonight at Busboys & Poets on 14th St. in DC, a celebration of writing in translation, with readings from Hindi, Tamil,

Polish, Faroese, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian,

Croatian, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, and more. Join us!
cheusecenter.gmu.edu/events/17170
Let's Talk: International Writers Festival
Monday, September 29, 2025 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM EDT: Marta Sanz, writer-in-residence from Spain kicks off a night of international writers talking...
cheusecenter.gmu.edu
September 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
lawrenceschimel.bsky.social
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
sarahorcas.bsky.social Sara Horcas-Rufián @sarahorcas.bsky.social · Sep 28
We should stop using the term "translating" when we are talking about what automatic translation systems can do. What they do is processing texts (to try and replicate it using words from a different language). Translating is a human ability.
September 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
bradlander.bsky.social
I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)
September 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
alexzucker.bsky.social
📢 Translators, you too can join the @alcs.co.uk and get paid for having your books checked out of the library.

A lifetime membership costs just £36. They take it out of your first payment, so you don’t pay a penny up front.

Since I joined in 2020, I have received £515.45! What are you waiting for?
September 22, 2025 at 2:12 PM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Same here. Thanks, @uilleamblacker.bsky.social, for stating the problem--and some possible solutions--so succinctly.
sarahjyoung.bsky.social Dr Sarah J Young @sarahjyoung.bsky.social · Sep 11
Brilliant, thought-provoking essay by my colleague @uilleamblacker.bsky.social - as a russianist who fully accepts that I have contributed this problem, I’d welcome the sort of institutional change Uilleam argues for here, and am trying to work towards that. www.eurozine.com/russia-is-no...
Russia is not the sea
Imperial Russia saw the nation as the sea into which all the other Slavic cultures flowed. The idea persists today not only in Russia's attitude towards its neighbourhood, but also in the way eastern ...
www.eurozine.com
September 11, 2025 at 4:54 PM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Grateful to National Translation Month for featuring my translation of Akram Aylisli's "People and Trees" in today's Substack post. Aylisli is Azerbaijan's most important contemporary writer; his books were burned in Azerbaijan in 2013. nationaltranslationmonth.substack.com/p/the-tale-o...
Excerpt From "The Tale of the Silver Tweezers" by Akram Aylisli, Translated by Katherine E. Young
This passage from "The Tale of the Silver Tweezers" ends the 3 novellas of Akram Aylisli's best-known work, "People and Trees" (Plamen Press, 2024), translated by Katherine E. Young. #TranslationMonth
nationaltranslationmonth.substack.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
jr-placitas.bsky.social
What the bloody hell?

www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...
‘I escaped a Russian prison — only to end up in an American jail’
Dozens of Russian dissidents have been expelled from the US and forcibly returned to Russia with the co-operation of immigration authorities
www.thetimes.com
September 6, 2025 at 1:41 PM
katherineeyoung.bsky.social
Excited to be taking part in both these September events with the marvelous @enaselimo.bsky.social, @leeyamehta.bsky.social, @kktranslation.bsky.social, and so many other wonderful writers and translators. Join us!
enaselimo.bsky.social Ena Selimović @enaselimo.bsky.social · Sep 3
Two exciting events I'm honored to be a part of—this month!
@leeyamehta.bsky.social @katherineeyoung.bsky.social
September 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
brianbergstrom.bsky.social
Jeremy Tiang really hits the nail on the head here (as would be expected).

Translation is caught between two forms of capitalist exploitation: using a per-word freelance structure to provide a bare minimum fee, and playing on its artistic nature to compel free ancillary labor alongside
Tiang: As Maureen alluded to, when we sign a contract, we get paid for our translations. But, in fact, we’re also doing a lot of other labor that is expected but not compensated. This can start way before the contract is signed. Many of us are pitching books to publishers, and to do that, we have to be reading wisely. We have to be making contact with authors and publishers to make sure that the rights are available. We have to do sample translations and synopses, for free, and we have to email them to publishers that we have taken care to build relationships with. All of this is unpaid until a publisher accepts the book, at which point you are negotiating for money after having done a lot of labor. And then there is, as Adam has pointed out, a power differential where the only power the translator has is to say, “This is what I would like.” Beyond that, all you can do is accept what you’re offered or walk away. In one sense, you’re being paid for the labor of your translation. But in another sense, you’re an all-around concierge who, in my case because many of my authors do not speak English, is expected to translate emails between the author and the publisher, to act as a kind of go-between: an agent, a rights agent, and a publicist all in one. We do what has to be done in order to get the translation to market, and often we are the only person in the equation with access to both languages and both cultures and both literary scenes, so we’re the only person who can do this work. But it’s not in our contracts, and we’re not getting paid for it. But it’s what has to happen to keep everything running. Tiang: Honestly, any kind of disruptive solution would be great. I am someone who makes the majority of my income from literary translation, even though my language isn’t particularly in demand. I do this by pitching a lot, generating a lot of my own work, never taking a day off, not sleeping. And that’s not really sustainable. The question for someone like me, who is relatively established and working constantly translating three to four books a year, is: Should I not be making a living? The fact that I am not suggests a problem with sustainability in the industry. It can’t just be people with outside sources of income. But I will say that this conversation has been hugely generative, and I’m going to suggest we start a group chat and continue it.
August 31, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Katherine E. Young
srtwofourfour.bsky.social
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2 black chevy suburbans with government tags. several agents inside unidentified in plain clothes and ear pieces. 6210 seven corners center, falls church, va 22041
stopicealert.ddns.net
August 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM