The Interpreter's Tale - by Jim Hicks (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A fresh and unique perspective on postwar Bosnia.

The subject of this book, in a word, is peacebuilding.

The Interpreter's Tale is a collection of stories based on a series of interviews, some done over twenty-five years ago, with interpreters and other civil servants in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The interviews were then edited, restructured, and set in narrative frames with the aim of capturing the unique voice and message of each.

Its fifteen chapters include, the interpreter's inside story of President Clinton's disastrous speech at the dedication of the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, stories about war crime investigations and simultaneous interpreting for government and foreign leaders, as well as discussions of interpreter training, both on the job and at university.

The collective wisdom of the interviewees Hicks assembles creates a fresh and unique perspective on postwar Bosnia and the largest "humanitarian

intervention" in modern history. This book also demonstrates that, far too often, those with the greatest knowledge of local history and culture are either ignored or silenced--and that local people are only rarely asked to participate in building the peace that only they can maintain.

About the Author

Jim Hicks is the former executive editor of the Massachusetts Review and former director of the Graduate Program in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. At UMass, he was nominated by his students three times for the University's Distinguished Graduate Mentor award. His most recent translation is Federica Marzi's My Home Somewhere Else (Sandorf Passage). Other translations include short pieces by François-Marie Banier, Italo Calvino, Ananda Devi, Violaine Huisman, Juan José Saer, Izet Sarajlic, and longer works by Erri De Luca. His Lessons from Sarajevo: A War Stories Primer was published by the University of Massachusetts Press.