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Translating a Person [1]

Creative Nonfiction [2]
1.16.20

“A person is not just one text but rather an infinite series of texts, none of which could be considered the original,” writes Alejandro Zambra in his Believer magazine essay “Translating a Person.” “A book is, in the best of cases, the text that a person once was or wanted to be, but of course it’s a multiple testament, ambiguous and full of nuances.” Think of someone you have been close to for a long time and the different phases you have known of this person’s life. Write a personal essay that attempts to “translate” this person by following one particular thread. Try using a numbered format as Zambra does in his essay to separate scenes or moments of this life.


Source URL:https://www.pw.org/content/translating_a_person

Links
[1] https://www.pw.org/content/translating_a_person [2] https://www.pw.org/genre/creativenonfiction