
Literary Evening with Australian Translator Will Firth Held at The House of The King’s Guard
Last night, a literary evening was held at The House of The King’s Guard featuring renowned Australian translator Will Firth. During the conversation with the author, the audience had the opportunity to learn more about his extensive experience translating literary works from our region, as well as the challenges and beauties of this creative process.
Firth shared the story of how life’s circumstances led him from Australia to Europe, where his interest in Slavic languages grew as he studied Russian.
As a scholarship holder in the former Yugoslavia, he spent time in Zagreb, where he developed a love for the language that now forms the foundation of his translation work. Over the years, he has translated numerous works from the former Yugoslavia, including from Montenegro and Macedonia. One of the greatest challenges he faced was translating Crnjanski’s A Novel of London.
During the conversation, Firth emphasized how translation work has personally affected him.
“Getting to know the many worlds that different novels bring has changed my understanding of the world; I have become more open to different perspectives and opinions, and my inner world has gained new dimensions.”
Although an atheist, Firth admitted that translating works with spiritual themes can sometimes be challenging, but he highlights the importance of intuition in the process.
“Translation is not just a mechanical process – sometimes intuition, and even dreams, help me subtly convey the meaning from one language to another.”
During the evening, special attention was given to his translations of Montenegrin authors such as Andrej Nikolaidis, Ognjen Spahić, Balša Brković, and Tijana Rakočević.
This literary evening provided attendees with not only an insight into Will Firth’s translation work but also the significance of his contribution to promoting Balkan literature on the international stage.