Renowned Poet David Ferry to Discuss the Art and Practice of Translation

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- David Ferry, a distinguished poet and literary critic, will read from his translations and discuss the art and practice of translation at Wellesley College, Wednesday, December 1, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Jewett Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Ferry is the author of numerous books of poetry and criticism. His most recent books are The Epistles of Horace: A Translation (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2001), The Odes of Horace: A Translation (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1997), The Eclogues of Virgil: A Translation (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1999) and Of No Country I Know: New and Selected Poems (University of Chicago Press, 1999). Ferry is renowned among his colleagues and former students for his special gifts as a reader of verse. The evening will provide a privileged glimpse into the poet-translator's workshop."

Of No Country I Know was awarded the 2000 Lenore Marshall Prize from the American Academy of Poets and the 2000 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress. His The Georgics of Virgil: A Translation is scheduled to be published next spring by Farrah Straus and Giroux.

Ferry was a professor at Wellesley from 1952 until 1989 and is now the Sophie Chantal Hart Professor of English (Emeritus). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of numerous other prestigious fellowships and honors, including a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for Scholarly Research and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for poetry.

The reading and discussion will be the inaugural public event of the Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities, which was established last year with a $10 million gift from Trustee Susan Newhouse and her husband, Donald.

Lawrence Rosenwald, Anne Pierce Rogers Professor of English at Wellesley College, will provide a response to Ferry’s reading and commentary. His scholarly interests include the theory and practice of translation and the American literary representation of language contact.

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal-arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 68 countries. For more information, go to www.wellesley.edu.

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