Current Issue
A Note from the Editors:
This issue represents fourteen languages - a Sui Generis record! It also contains three interviews with noted translators: a conversation between writer Lydia Davis and Spanish Studies major Wyatt Reu ‘23, a dialogue with Professor Ahmad Ayyad of Al-Quds Bard College in Jerusalem, conducted by Environmental and Urban Studies major Khadija Ghanizada ‘23, and a discussion of Professor Joseph Luzzi’s new translation of La Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri between himself and Literature major Martial Junceau ‘24. The editors present this volume as an embodiment of our linguistic diversity, and of our experience both as individuals and as a community of readers, thinkers, and translators. Enjoy!
Submission Guidelines
Submit polished translations of work that you’ve done in class or on your own from a foreign language into English. They can be short stories, poems, parts of essays, book excerpts, graphic novels, etc. Submissions should be no longer than 5 pages, unless the editors have previously approved it. We’re very open to various ideas and submissions, think outside the box! We want to represent Bard’s diversity in languages and cultures through students’ work.
Please cite the original text and attach a copy of it alongside your translation. If you think it is appropriate, attach a brief description of your work. For all Latin script languages, please submit your translation as a Word document; all non-Latin script languages, please submit your work as a pdf.
A Brief History
Sui Generis first saw the light in 1997 as an initiative of the Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures faculty at Bard. It has been published once every spring since that year, and has grown to accommodate the new languages that entered our curriculum, such as Arabic and Japanese. We chose the name Sui Generis—“of its own kind”—because we saw this as a unique sort of publication. Our primary goal was—and still is—to encourage students to produce original creative work in a foreign language, or to translate the work of other authors. This little magazine also offers language students new opportunities to work closely with our faculty and Foreign Language Exchange Tutors. Over the years Sui Generis has given increased visibility to Bard’s innovative language programs, and we are proud of all the dedication our student contributors and editors have shown.