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Here is a day-by-day list of all the activities adults can enjoy themselves (though a digital brochure of the full event schedule is available to download below).
International Mother Language Day: Exhibitions
1st February – 31st March Manchester Central Library (Manchester Histories Hub, Lower Ground Floor) St Peter’s Square, M2 5PD Available during the Library’s opening hours FREE No booking required
Al-Usra wal-Sufra: Family and Feasts
We have an exciting exhibition from Ali Al-Jamri, Manchester Multilingual City Poet, who worked with artist Rosie Stanley to create a dollhouse to inspire writing for last summer’s Liverpool Arab Arts Festival. The dollhouse was to provide inspiration for young people from two Arabic Saturday
schools to read poetry and write their own in Arabic and English. The poems you will see in the dollhouse at the exhibition are all written by children at the Liverpool Arabic Centre and Manchester Arabic School.
Children might struggle to understand and reproduce the formal Arabic of the classroom, but every child knows how to ask their parents, “When is dinner ready?” With the family dinner as the starting point, the name emerged easily: Al-Usra wal-Sufra, Family and Feasts.
The young people were encouraged to write in both languages, whichever came naturally. The results were surprising: teachers said they had seen a creativity they had not known was within their pupils.
To bring everything together, Ali brought in the dollhouse. Just as we have remade our redbrick homes in England’s Northwest to remind us of our origins, this dollhouse has been turned from a traditional English layout to a British Arab one, complete with a majlis to host big meals for the entire family.
Have a read of the young people’s poetry – and why not add to our display by writing your own and sending it to us via #MCRIMLD23.
Produced by Ali Al-Jamri, Manchester Multilingual City Poet Dollhouse design by artist Rosie Stanley In partnership with Liverpool Arab Arts Festival and Manchester City of Literature
La Ville d’après: Visions artistiques de notre futur urbain
In 2020, the hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across the world’s population stimulated discussion about how cities would function post-COVID-19. Angoulême in France, a sister UNESCO City of Literature with a rich history of celebrating comic books and graphic novels, launched a competition to find those visions, hopes and fears of a post-COVID world from other UNESCO cities.
For International Mother Language Day, we have collated ten entries from our sister UNESCO Cities of Literature for you here, along with a brief insight from the artists about their work.
Multilingual Film Exhibition
On the screen in The Manchester Histories Hub, where our exhibitions will be displayed, we will have a playlist of films from Manchester and other sister UNESCO Cities of Literature.
From Manchester we will have the ‘Made in Manchester’ poem based on Zahid Hussain’s poem, comprising of 65 languages, and different translations of Manchester Multilingual Poets, Anjum Malik’s ‘This Here’ and Ali Al-Jamri’s ‘In Prisms of Knowledge’.
Outside of Manchester, we will be playing films from Nottingham, Tartu and Reykjavik, all UNESCO Cities of Literature.
Library shelves
On our Manchester City of Literature stacks in Manchester Central Library (just around the corner from the Manchester Histories Hub where our exhibitions are), we have worked with
the Library team to fill these will books for International Mother Language Day. These multingual books will interest a range of ages including new books linkedto the events you’ll see throughout this booklet.
Words from the Childhood Home: A Chain Poem for International Mother Language Day 2023 From Monday 20th February
‘Words From the Childhood Home’ is a brand new, exciting, multilingual chain poem written by nominated poets representing UNESCO Cities of Literature to celebrate International Mother Language Day 2023.
Manchester City of Literature invited our fellow UNESCO Cities of Literature to nominate a poet to respond to Anjum Malik, a Manchester Multilingual City Poet who writes in Urdu and English.
Anjum started the chain poem with a four-line stanza on the theme of ‘Childhood Home’, reflecting on the power of family (and all the forms that this takes), native languages and memory. Each participating poet was tasked with producing a four-line stanza (in their mother tongue and with a translation into English) in response to the words of the poet that responded before them. Together, members of the Cities of Literature network have produced a stunning poem which captures the rich nuances of international poets’ lived childhoods.
Thank you to Manchester Histories for their work and cooperation in helping us organise this exhibition in their space within Manchester Central Library.
Manchester In Translation: Comma Press
Online Monday 20th – Wednesday 22nd February 11am – 7pm FREE
Manchester’s Comma Press present a series of free, online workshops and panels offering advice and insight into literary translation as a professional practice. Over three days, emerging translators – or those with a passion for working between languages – will be invited to engage in current debates and topics surrounding literary translation, as well as take part in eye-opening translation workshops.
Join Comma for morning talks and panels, streamed live on the Comma Press YouTube Channel at 11.00am. Each afternoon Comma will host workshops in specifically-chosen community languages. The workshops will be delivered online via Zoom and are limited to 15 spaces. All events are entirely free, but you have to sign up.
Keynote Speech Tiffany Tsao
Monday 20th February, 11:00am Watch Live via the Comma Press YouTube
Writer and translator Tiffany Tsao will deliver the opening keynote. Tsao has translated five books from Indonesian to English. Her translation of Erikson Pasaribu’s Happy Stories, Mostly won the 2022 Republic of Consciousness Prize and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize.
This keynote will be streamed live to the Comma Press YouTube channel. You will be able to follow a link to the YouTube event from this event’s Eventbrite page, or from the Comma Press website, social media pages (@commapress).
Panel: Queering Translation
Tuesday 21st February, 11:00am Watch Live via the Comma Press YouTube
A panel discussion looking beyond issues of representation to ask what strategies might inform a translator’s practice with regard to both contemporary and historic queer literature and the ethical implications of doing so.
This panel will be streamed live to the Comma Press YouTube channel. You will be able to follow a link to the YouTube event from this event’s Eventbrite page, or from the Comma Press website, social media pages (@commapress).
Panel: Keeping Underrepresented Literatures Alive through Translation
Wednesday 22nd February, 11:00am Watch Live via the Comma Press YouTube
Translators from languages underrepresented in English translation will discuss what role translators, editors, publishers and authors plays in keeping the literature of those languages alive.
Translation Workshops with Comma Press
Comma will also be hosting four 2.5-hour-long translation workshops each afternoon of the conference designed to give people a taste of the translation process. This year’s workshops will cover translating Italian, Hindi, Soranî and Kurmanjî into English.
Groups will work on collaborative translations of texts across different genres, guided by experienced translators. This is a great opportunity to take your translating to the next level, hone your creative writing skills and meet like-minded people.
All workshops translate into English, therefore all participants must have proficiency in the source language (reading proficiency not just spoken) and have a high proficiency in English. Groups will be limited to 15 people to allow for individual attention, and applicants will be asked to answer a few quick questions when booking to determine their suitability for the workshop. This information won’t be shared with anyone but the workshop facilitator.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WORKSHOPS ARE FOR UK-BASED TRANSLATORS ONLY.
Monday 20th February 2-4.30pm – Italian to English Translation with Ruth Clarke – Tuesday 21st February 2-4.30pm – Hindi to English Translation with Mohini Gupta – Wednesday 22nd February 2-4.30pm – Soranî to English and Kurmanjî to English Translation
The Multilingual Museum Manchester Museum Oxford Road, M13 9PL Drop in 10am – 4pm FREE No booking required
Come and experience the pioneering Multilingual Museum, celebrating the language diversity of Manchester. Whether you speak a language fluently, are learning one, or just want to know more about languages, come along! You could try to translate with them, speak in your own language about the objects, learn more about the languages found around Manchester, or hear from their Multilingual Museum volunteers about the work they’ve done to make this project possible. Your contribution could go on their website too!
Creative Manchester / University of Manchester: COMICS UP CLOSE – New Perspectives in Comics 2023 Manchester Museum (Kanaris Theatre) Oxford Road, M13 9PL 11am – 5pm (registration from 10am) £25 including lunch and refreshments
Why Comics? What Can They Do? The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in partnership with Creative Manchester and Sheffield Hallam University invite you to join a day packed with new and exciting perspectives on comics. Bringing together leading academics, world renowned comic creators and comic advocates from across the globe, the day will present new research and thinking on comics.
Contributors will include:
Dave McKean, one of the UK’s leading illustrators, photographers, comic book artists and filmmakers, reflecting on new technological advances, especially Artificial Intelligence, and how these are redefining what it is to create, to draw and consume comics.
Benoit Peeters, previously the UK’s first professor of comics at Lancaster University, currently professor at the Collège de France in Paris and also a writer, thinker and the creator of The Obscure Cities comic series with the Belgian artist François Schuiten, exploring what makes comics special and particular in the world of arts and culture.
Also featured will be presentations on comics and social change across Europe, comics and racial identities in Latin America and a survey of comics and social change in the UK over two centuries, plus much more.
MCR City of Languages: Protecting Multilingualism panel Online 6.30pm Free
“Why and how should we protect multilingualism? A linguistic citizenship perspective”
The online event will bring together an international panel of activists for indigenous language rights and city and nation-wide multilingualism to discuss issues of linguistic citizenship and links between language and equality and decoloniality. Its purpose will be to inspire local activists by linking to an international perspective. Speakers include Francesca La Morgia, Mother Tongues Ireland; Daniel Kaufman, Endangered Language Alliance New York; Kamal Kelzi language activist and Anjum Malik, writer, lecturer and Multilingual City Poet.
Muslim Writers: International Mother Language Day Mushaira Pakistani Community Centre 481 Stockport Rd, M12 4NN 6.30 – 9pm FREE Book via: admin@muslimwriters.org.uk
A special Urdu poetry recital – all welcome.
Manchester Poetry Library: International Mother Language Day at the Manchester Poetry Library Manchester Poetry Library Oxford Road, M15 6BG Throughout the day (10am – 7pm) FREE (refreshments provided) No booking required
Drop in anytime during the day to view special displays of books from their co-curated language programme, including Farsi poetry recommended by the audience at last year’s event and a special Bengali poetry display that considers the roots of International Mother Language Day.
From 6-7pm, Manchester Poetry Library will be hosting their very first Multilingual Open Mic poetry session. Places at this event are limited, so register to attend. Audience members can opt to read in any language, simply let us know what language you wish to read in when you register. The poems can be your own or written by someone else. Places to read will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Instituto Cervantes: Language Acquisition in Multilingual contexts Online 6pm FREE
Adquirir una Segunda Lengua: ¿Por qué nos parece tan difícil? | Acquiring a Second Language: Why do we find it so difficult?
Lecture given by Diego Pascual y Cabo (University of Florida)
Instituto Cervantes Manchester and Leeds presents a new lecture series: “Acquiring a Second Language: Why do we find it so difficult?”, coordinated by Idoia Elola (Texas Tech University) y Ana Oskoz (University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), a forum aimed at teachers, language students, parents and the general public, which will consider how we learn a second, or a heritage language. Presenters will discuss various elements and difficulties that come with second-language acquisition including: myths and realities surrounding language acquisition and age, the effect of explicit knowledge and how it can affect learning, the use of language according to the context in which it is spoken, and the effect of education on our ability to learn a second language. The first lecture “Critical Language Awareness and the Second-language Classroom” will celebrate International Mother Language Day and will be given by Diego Pascual y Cabo (University of Florida).
Language: English (simultaneous interpreted into Spanish)
Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University: Mother Tongue Other Tongue Launch (For people who work in schools) Online 4 – 6pm FREE
Mother Tongue Other Tongue 2023 will be launched online during IMLD 2023. This is a free to enter competition, open to young people aged 8-18 wishing to celebrate their mother language or to be creative in a language they are learning. This event is for schools and other groups wishing to join the project to find out about the competition and available resources. Sign up for an online, information and resource-sharing event
For further detail about Mother Tongue Other Tongue and other MCR Poetry Library initiatives, see https://www.mmu.ac.uk/poetrylibrary/
MACFest 2023: Celebrating Poetry and International Mother Language Day Online 6 – 7.30pm FREE
Join us for an exciting event with young people from the UK, on a literary and poetic journey, as we also celebrate International Mother Language Day!
Young poets will recite or perform their poetry in English or their mother tongue. They will be Introduced by their teachers or headteachers.
Hosted by: Miss Donna Johnson and Mr. Neil A. Johnson, Co-Headteachers of Levenshulme High School, Manchester. Chief Guest: Yaron Matras is a linguist at the University of Manchester specializing in Romani and other languages, including Middle Eastern languages.
We have created a page showing the public transport options for reaching each IMLD event venue and a page with a day’s itinerary for adults on the busy Tuesday to help you turn IMLD into a day out.
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