A writer of both poetry and prose, Douglas Babington began his teaching career in Athens, Greece, where his most recent book of bilingual poems, News From the Recent Quake, was published in 2015. Following his experience in Greece, Douglas taught literature for many years at Queen’s University. He also directed the cross-curricular writing program and contributed essays on language and culture to the journal Queen’s Quarterly.
During these recent months of Covid19, his interest in translation turned to Albert Camus’s La Peste. He translated numerous passages from the novel and adapted them into prose poems.
Douglas will lead a seminar and workshop on techniques of creative translation, using his own “Camus poems” as a springboard for discussion and experimentation. Students in this seminar will be encouraged to test the boundaries between French and English and to appreciate the qualities that make each language special.