Rumpus Contributor Mark Folse reports back from the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society Words & Music Conference from Odd Words with gems like this:
“Or we can begin with the first question: why American’s don’t read more foreign literature. ‘It’s about what we are prepared for. Our teachers simply aren’t prepared to teach international literature,’ suggested John Biguenet, poet, playwright, novelist and twice President of American Literary Translators Association. Andrew Lam, journalist and web editor of New American Media, an association of multicultural literary associations. ‘At a time when we need to have eyes on what’s happening overseas we are cutting back on foreign correspondents. We have less interest in putting our eyes and ears overseas,’ suggesting a willful American ignorance of the outside world.”
