AustLit

'As an undergraduate in the 1980s, I took French translation classes with the famous Professor Colin Duckworth at Melbourne University. I was less impressed then than I am now at his story of sleeping in Voltaire’s own bed (sans Voltaire, needless to say); and we all did grow rather tired of hearing about Samuel Beckett, on whom he was a world authority. I had left university by the time he started acting in Neighbours; probably that would have impressed me most of all. However, his approach to language, as a writer, critic and translator, has stayed with me. He was superb at demonstrating the balance between accuracy and tone in the choice of words; how sometimes a less literal translation could more effectively capture meaning and mood. Nowhere is striking this balance more critical than in poetry.' (Introduction)