Unfinished Translation

This essay is about the limits of time, borders and languages, and what it means to be the daughter of a translator.

“Symbols fill the space where language fails. As the daughter of a translator and a child of diaspora, I’m often at a loss for words, stumbling over the edges and gaps where we switch from one system to another, where we lack a perfect translation or direct equivalent. I would give you an example, but I can’t find one I am satisfied with. I am terrified of getting it wrong. I have written and rewritten this paragraph over and over because the hardest thing to write about is what you don’t know. How do I explain that living in two cultures is both abundance and loss at the same time? How do I describe the things I miss from another place and time when I don’t have words for them?”

• Read the full essay in KHÔRA. I was chosen to be one of the first four writers to contribute to KHÔRA, a publication affiliated with Corporeal Writing that was launched in 2020. This essay was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.