The first 'Conversations with Translators' event was held by Üsküdar University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of English Translation and Interpreting. Experienced literary translator Merve Pelit Yalçın participated as a guest in the event, which was held both physically and online.
The event, moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Feride Zeynep Güder, a faculty member of the English Translation and Interpreting Department, was also attended by Department Head Dr. Nafi Yalçın, and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özdemir.
The event, which attracted great interest from department students and academics, served as a guiding conversation, especially for young translators who have not yet embarked on their professional careers.
Merve Yalçın Pelit, who is both a language educator and a PhD student, stated that loving one's job and entering the field at an early age are crucial for a translator. The translator, explaining the publication, copyright, and translation processes in detail, also highlighted potential problems that might arise during these processes. Pelit also made evaluations on her translations of Forrest Read's *Letters of Ezra Pound to James Joyce*, James Huneker's *The Book of Supermen: Egoists*, Gombrich's *Shadows*, Lewis Carroll's *Alice in Wonderland*, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's *A Little Child*, and spoke about the practical difficulties and challenges of translation, as well as her methods for coping with them.
Merve Yalçın Pelit, 'A translator must be proficient in the culture of the text and the author.'
Emphasizing that research is one of the requirements of the profession, she stated that time context and words can create challenging details, and that having knowledge of the period and the author's life, as well as not losing one's sense of curiosity, are essential requirements of the profession.
In the conversation, which progressed with references to authors such as James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Lewis Carroll, the translator's role as an author was also discussed.
The event, found to be highly beneficial by the department's students, concluded with questions posed to Merve Yalçın Pelit and her corresponding answers.