Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman now finds herself in a whirlwind of controversy over the issue of a Dutch translation of her work “The Hill We Climb”. Unfortunately, the translator that Gorman chose just happens to be a white person and that isn’t woke enough. It doesn’t matter that the person is non-binary so that probably means “they” are a member of the LGBTQ community, nor does it matter that “they” are the youngest winner of the International Booker Prize which is a high literary accomplishment. All that apparently matters here is that Marieke Lucas Lijneveld is white.
This is sort of a strange situation considering the fact that Amanda Gorman is black and “woke”. The antagonist in this story is another black and woke woman named Janice Deul. Surely Deul should support her fellow woke, black woman in her attempt to spread her message across Europe, regardless of the method in which that message is translated, right? Apparently not. Janice Deul is an activist over in the Netherlands who called the selection of Rijneveld an “incomprehensible choice” and a “missed opportunity”. As a result of the backlash from Deul’s tweets, Rijneveld dropped out of contention for the translation job.
SOURCES:
Amanda Gorman translator pulls out amid uproar she’s not black
Janice Deul (@janice.deul) • Instagram photos and videos
Amanda Gorman’s Dutch translator stands down after uproar that Black writer wasn’t chosen – CNN Style
‘Shocked by the uproar’: Amanda Gorman’s white translator quits | Books | The Guardian
Amanda Gorman’s work won’t be translated by white poet