In this author/translator workshop, Moroccan poet and novelist Rim Battal will first discuss the importance of sensitive language in her work—when, how, and to what extent she uses provocative language, and the risks and benefits of doing so. Participants will have a chance to reflect on how their own language and culture affects their use and understanding of such language. A culture might be more or less likely to use sexual language, for example, or to curse. Ideas surrounding gender, sex, race, and religion also play a role, because what is taboo in one culture may not be in another. As we open up the discussion, participants may be surprised to see how greatly our views around this topic vary, even within a single language or country.
Translator Liza Tripp will then discuss how sensitive language can present a linguistic minefield that can involve both outside censorship (from editors, publishers, or readers) and self-censorship (how a translator’s own ideas about provocation can impact the process). In order to successfully flex and bend the target when handling language that is often visceral, emotionally charged, and weighted by taboo, translators must go beyond individual words and consider the cumulative and referential effects of the words for the target readers.
Join us for a morning of reading, discussion, translating—and everyone’s favorite pastime—swearing.
Recommended reading:
“I’ll Look Myself in the Eyes” by Rim Battal. Translated by Liza Tripp (Galiot Press, 2026)
“Expletive Deleted” by Ruth Wajnryb (Free Press, 2011)
“Nine Nasty Words” by John McWhorter (Avery, 2023)
Rim Battal is a poet, journalist, and artist. She is the author of multiple poetry collections in French, including “L’eau de bain,” “Pommes girl,” and “X et excès,” and the autobiographical novel “Je me regarderai dans les yeux,” which recently won the 2025 Prix de la littérature arabe des lycéens and was a finalist for the Arab Literature Prize in France. The novel will be published in English this November as “I’ll Look Myself in the Eyes” (Galiot Press), translated by Liza Tripp. Battal splits her time between Paris and Rabat.
Liza Tripp is a translator. Recent translations include Rim Battal’s “I’ll Look Myself in the Eyes” (Galiot Press, 2026) and Hélène Hérault’s “One Way” (Silent Clamor Press, 2026). Tripp has also translated numerous nonfiction books for publishers, including Rizzoli, Assouline, and Schiffer Books. Her poetry translations have appeared in the Cordite Poetry Review and the International Poetry Review. She recently received a 2026 Villa Albertine Translation Fund and Prize for Rim Battal’s “L’eau de bain.” Tripp is based in Centerport, New York, and Rockport, Massachusetts.