Clare Vassallo

Contact details
Professional profile
Activities
Research
Training/Educating
Transcreation
Translating
Writing
Literary Translation
Language pairs
Italian > English
Maltese > English
Areas of expertise
Education
Entertainment
Literature and Philosophy
Marketing
Tourism
Qualifications and experience

Professor of Semiotics and Translation Studies at the Unverisity of Malta where I teach courses in Literary Translation, History of Translation, Contemporary Issues in Translation, Semtiocs and Pragmatics, among others. Most of my translation experience is in the translaiton of Maltese short stories, novels and poetry into English and most of this work has been paid through grants awarded by the National Book Council. Although I've lived and studied in Italy (Bologna), I don't often work from Italian into English.

Publications

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS:

WORK IN PROGRESS: 2019 – 2021: National Book Council (NBC) Grant to translate Malta’s National Poet, Dun Karm Psaila (1871-1961) into English. This was awarded after a competitive call for translators. The translation is of a selection of forty poems, one of which is Dun Karm Psaila’s most famous and most complex poem, Il-Jien u lil hinn Minnu and another is the National Anthem, L-Innu Malti.

LITERARY TRANSLATIONS: 2019: Triqat a collection of poems by Norbert Bugeja into English. To be published in five languages. Midsea Books, Malta (forthcoming). 2019: Vespers / Vespri a collection of Short Stories by Trevor Zahra into English. To be published by Merlin Publishers in 2019 Malta and in search of a publisher outside of Malta. Funded through an ACM Translation Grant, and edited by Mary Ellen Kerans, MET. My English version has been used as a Bridge Translation for the French version, by English to French translator, Roland Viard. Publication date 2019. 2019: Nismaħhom Jgħidu / Bonfire Night and Other Stories. A collection of short stories by Joe Friggieri into English. Funded through an ACM Translation Grant, and edited by Mary Ellen Kerans, MET. Kite Publications, forthcoming 2018: Destinazzjoni / Destination by Walid Nabhan into English for the EUPL European Union Prize for Literature – The Short Story. Published under the title European Stories in a collection by EUPL, Belgium. 2015: Having Said Goodnight, three stories by Pierre J. Mejlak into English. His Smell, pp.79-88, The Foreigner, pp.131-146, The Parrot’s Cry, pp.159-168. Merlin Publishers, Malta. 2013: In Il-Letteratura fit-Traduzzjoni / Literature in Translation, a collection of translations by members of the Department of Translation, Terminology and Interpretation, University of Malta. Faraxa Publishers. Two translation of stories by Pierre J. Mejlak into English: A Different Smell and The Smell of Totó, pp.217-227 PUBLISHED LITERARY BLOGS: 2017: http://www.eurolitnetwork.com/the-malta-book-festival-8th-12th-november-2017-by-clare-vassallo/

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS: (2019) Forthcoming: ‘Sonnets in Translation: Oliver Friggieri and Twelve of Shakespeare’s Sonnets’, in Refractions: Romanticism, Modernism, Comparatism: Essays in Honour of Peter Vassallo, ed. Ivan Callus, James Corby, Maria Frendo, Malta: Midsea Books. (2019): Forthcoming: Anthology of Maltese Literature in English to be published by the National Book Council (NBC). This is a collection of English translations of contemporary Maltese literary writing. I contributed three of Trevor Zahra’s stories from Vespers / Vespri and Chapter One of Alex Vella Gera’s Is-Sriep Reġgħu Saru Velenużi. Ed. Charles Calleja. 2018: ‘From Invisibility to Centre Stage: Translation as Metaphor for the Mediation of Knowledge’, in Across Borders 7: Cultures in Dialogue, ed. L. Laineste and W. Chlopicki. Krosno, Poland: Krosno State College. 2018: Critical Review of The London Book Fair 2018 Session on ‘Translated Maltese Literature and Minority Literature’, in IOW – In Other Words, published by The National Centre for Writing, Norwich and The Translator’s Association, London, Summer 2018, Issue 51, pp.109-110. 2018: Critical Introduction to the novel Skulls of Istria by Rick Harsch published by River Boat Books, USA, (2011 and 2018). 2017: ‘Translating Equivalent Effect: Or Re-Creating the Intentio Operis’ in Umberto Eco in His Own Words, ed. T. Thellefsen and B. Sorenson in the series Semiotics, Communication and Cognition vol.19, Boston and Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 2017: ‘Shakespeare bil-Malti’, in L-Aċċent, Numru 15, Jannar 2017, pp.39-44. Pubblikazzjoni tad-Dipartiment tal-Malti tal-Kummissjoni Ewropea. (also available http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/publications/magazines 2016: ‘Bilingualism and Translation: Code-Switching in Bilingual Fiction and the Translator’s Dilemma’ in Bilingual Landscape of the Contemporary World, ed. S. Grucza, M. Olpinska-Szkielo and P. Romanowski. Frankfurt-am-Main and New York: Peter Lang. 2016: ‘Umberto Eco: “It-Traduzzjoni hija il-Lingwa tal-Ewropa”’, in L-Aċċent, Numru 14, Ġunju 2016, pp.23-24. Pubblikazzjoni tad-Dipartiment tal-Malti tal-Kummissjoni Ewropea. (also available http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/publications/magazines 2015: Semiotica, vol. 206 issue 1/4, Special Issue, Umberto Eco’s Interpretative semiotics: Interpretation, Encyclopedia, Translation, Guest Editors, Cinzia Bianchi and Clare Vassallo, Editor in Chief, Marcel Danesi. Berlin and Boston: De Grutyer Mouton. 2015: ‘What’s so “proper” about translation? Or interlingual translation and interpretative semiotics’, pp 161-180, in Semiotica, vol. 206 issue 1/4, Special Issue, Umberto Eco’s Interpretative semiotics: Interpretation, Encyclopaedia, Translation, Guest Editors, Cinzia Bianchi and Clare Vassallo, Editor in Chief, Marcel Danesi. Berlin and Boston: De Grutyer Mouton. 2014: TPPI – Today’s Public Policy Institute Report: Confronting the Challenge: Innovation in the Regulation of Broadcasting in Malta. Co-authored: Petra Caruana Dingli and Clare Vassallo. 2014: ‘Translation between Orality and the Written Word: The Problem of Translingual Narratives’, pp. 131-146, in Translation Studies from Malta, Ed. Charles Briffa. Malta: Malta University Publishing. 2013: ‘Keep to the Local or Aim for the Global? Issues at the Borders of a Minority Language’, pp. 35-56, in Textus: English Studies in Italy, xxvi (2013) No. 3 (September-December), Special Issue: Beyond Borders: Global Literature and Translation, Guest Editors: Edoardo Zuccato and Tim Parks, Editor in Chief, Lilla Maria Crisafulli, Rome: Carocci editore. 2013: In Il-Letteratura fit-Traduzzjoni / Literature in Translation, a collection of translations by members of the Department of Translation, Terminology and Interpretation, University of Malta. Malta: Faraxa Publishers. (pp.217-227) 2012: Translation Studies: Translation for Specific Purposes: An Anglo-Maltese Scenario of Reproductive Health, Ed. Joseph Eynaud, Elizabeth Cassar and Clare Vassallo. Saabruken: Lambert Academic Press. 2012: ‘Throwing out the baby with the Bathwater: The Ostracization of English in Malta’ pp. 79-94 in Translation Studies: Translation for Specific Purposes: An Anglo-Maltese Scenario of Reproductive Health, Ed. Joseph Eynaud, Elizabeth Cassar and Clare Vassallo. Saabruken: Lambert Academic Press. 2011: “Roses by Different Names – Do They Smell as Sweet?: Style, Status and Invisibility in Literary Translation” in Migration, Narration, Communication: Cultural Exchanges in a Globalized World. Ed. Alicja Witalitsz in the series Text – Meaning – Context, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 2011: “‘Extravagant Fiction Today, Cold Fact Tomorrow’: The Theme of Infertility in Science Fiction” Clare Vassallo and Victor Grech in Discourses and Narrations in the Biosciences. Ed., Paola Spinozzi and Brian Hurwitz in the series, Interfacing Science, Literature, and the Humanities, ACUME 2. Goettingen: V & R Unipress. 2011: ‘The Role of Women in the Construction of European Identity: Presence, Plurality and Borders’, to be published by The Today Public Policy Institute – TPPI, Malta 2009: ‘The Role of Translation in Malta’s Expanding Linguistic and Cultural Landscape’, in Culture, Language and Literature Across Border Regions, eds., Pavol Stekauer, Slavka Tomascikova and Wladyslaw Witalisz. Krosno, Poland: Krosno State University. 2009: “Il Ruolo della Donna nella Construzione dell’Identita’ Europea: Presenza, Pluralita` e Confine’, published in the proceedings of TransEuropaExpress 2008, L’Europa Femminile Plurale, by Donzelli Editore. (Italian Version) (English Version to be published in 2011, see below). 2009: “Identity and Instruction: Issues of Choice Between the Maltese Language and its Others”, in A Sea for Encounters: Essays Towards a Post-Colonial Commonwealth, Ed. Stella Borg Barthet. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2005: CD-Rom and DVD: Oral and Written History: Re-Oralization and Interfacing Oralcy and Literacy. Editors: Prof. Steven Knight (University of Cardiff) and Prof. Marianne Boerch (University of Southern Denmark). Published through ACUME European Cultural Memory Thematic Network. 2005: ‘The Pact in the Text: Faust and the Shifts in Literary and Cultural Genres’, in Oral and Written History: Re-Oralization and Interfacing Oralcy and Literacy. Editors: Prof. Steven Knight (University of Cardiff) and Prof. Marianne Boerch (University of Southern Denmark). Published as CD-Rom and DVD through ACUME European Cultural Memory Thematic Network. 2005: Malta at War in Cultural Memory: Representations of ‘The Madonna’s Chosen People’, Eds. Clare Thake Vassallo and Ivan Callus, Malta University Publishers. 2005: “Memory as Protagonist in Thomas Pynchon, Anthony Burgess and Nicholas Monsarrat” in Malta at War in Cultural Memory: Representations of ‘The Madonna’s Chosen People’. Eds. Clare Thake Vassallo and Ivan Callus, Malta University Publishers. 2003: The Communist Manifesto: Karl Marx’s Legacy to Humanity, Intro. Paula Allman, Eds. Carmel Vassallo and Clare Thake Vassallo, Malta University Publishers 2003: ‘Marxist Ideology, the Literary Canon and the Sign of Canonicity’, in The Communist Manifesto: Karl Marx’s Legacy to Humanity, introduction by Paula Allman. Eds. Carmel Vassallo and Clare Thake Vassallo, Malta University Publishers. 2001: ‘Borders and Perceptions: Pynchon, Faust and the Literary Arts’, in Malta and the Arts: Perspectives for a New Millennium Proceedings of a National Conference, Eds. Priscilla Camilleri and Patricia Gatt. Malta: Ministry of Education.

EXPERT JOURNAL AND BOOK REVIEWS: 2018: Brill – Review for proposed book Lessons Learned from Reading the Signs, as an expert review to decide on publication prospects for Brill. 2018: Routledge – Expert Review on possible prospects for the proposed publication as a Handbook of Translation History for Routledge. 2018: De Grutyer – for the Journal Semiotica. Requested to review a research paper on Translation and Semiotics, which is my main area of specialization and the topic on which I guest edited a special edition of Semiotica in 2015. 2018: Book Review for River Boat Books, US, for The Skulls of Istria by Rick Harsch, now published as an Introduction to the re-print. 2013: Book Review: The Santa Maria Convoy: Faith and Endurance in Wartime Malta 1940-1942, by Dennis A. Castillo. Review published in The Catholic Historical Review, 99 (2), pp. 387-388.

LIST OF SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS: Sci-Fi Publications generated by an initial paper in 2011, “Extravagant Fiction Today, Cold Fact Tomorrow’: The Theme of Infertility in Science Fiction” in Discourses and Narrations in the Biosciences. This joint paper with Victor Grech, who was my doctoral student as well a medical doctor, who I was supervising with Ivan Callus for a Ph.D with the title Infertility in Science Fiction for the English Department, led to a long term collaboration between the Humanities and the Medical Sciences at the University of Malta. Together and, with the support of the Deans of the relevant Faculties, we established the HUMS Programme (see above). The following list of papers in Science Fiction are a direct offshoot of the on-going collaboration between these three authors: Victor Grech, Clare Vassallo and Ivan Callus These articles are not professionally peer-reviewed. They are included as a way of showing an academic discourse and its interface with specialist fan-journals in Science Fiction and Fantasy, which are two speculative genres at the crossroads between science and literature, art and prediction, technology and fantasy – and which offer a fertile field of literary study and social reflection, usually of a dystopic nature. 2017: ‘Infertility in Science Fiction as a Feminist Issue’ in Science Fiction Research Association, SFRA Review 319 Winter (2017) “‘Dread of the Masses”: Infertility in Science Fiction Due to Off-Planet Population Control and as an Occupational Requirement’, in Science Fiction Research Association, SFRA Review. 2016: ‘Science Fiction and its Past Relations with the Academy’, in SPJ. 2015: ‘The Deliberate Infliction of Infertility in Science Fiction’ in World Future Review 7 (1), 48-60. ‘Infertility as a Stage in Species’ Development and Aging Species’, in World Future Review 7 (1), 39-47. 2014: ‘The Coldest of all Cold Monsters: State Infliction of Infertility’, in Finnish Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research ‘Fafnir’, in Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research. 2013: ‘The Last (Fertile) Man on Earth: Comedy or Fantasy?’ in World Future Review 5 (1), 24-28. ‘Medicine for the Soul: Relations Between Medicine and Humanity’, in Medical Portals. ‘We have not lost faith, but we have transferred it from God to the Medical Profession: Medicine in Mainstream Literature. Part I. in Medical Portals. ‘The Pill in the Future: Pharmaceutical Contraception in Science Fiction’, in Malta College of Pharmacy Practice 2012: ‘Single-gendered Worlds in Science Fiction: Better for Whom?’ in Vector, 269 (2012):15-21. ‘Immortality and Infertility in Science Fiction: Who Wants to Live Forever?’ in Science Fiction Research Association, SFRA. ‘Gaia Beware: Infertility in Science Fiction due to Bioterrorism, Pollution and Accidental Iatrogenic Events’ in Vector 270 (2012):26-30. ‘‘You are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son’ - fertility in prehistory, history and contemporary culture’ in The Synapse. January (2012). 6-7. Part 2: February (2012):6-7.

Continuing professional development
METMs
Workshops