Performance of literary translation to honor professor's retirement

LAWRENCE — The Department of Classics at the University of Kansas will stage an event to celebrate the art of literary translation and to honor the retirement of one of its professors, who is renowned in the field. A reading of “Antigonick” will be held with the poet and translator Anne Carson on Friday, Feb. 14, to recognize 38 years of service from Professor Stanley Lombardo.

The special reading, planned from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Spencer Museum of Art auditorium, will feature Lombardo, Carson and her collaborator Robert Currie. The reading is free and open to the public.

Carson, a distinguished poet and translator of classical texts, has boldly translated and adapted Sophocles' “Antigone” for stage and ear. "Antigonick” translates the Greek classic not only into English, but also into Carson's distinctive voice.

Lombardo joined the faculty at KU in 1976, where he served as department chair for 15 years. He teaches Greek and Latin at all levels as well as general courses on Greek literature and culture. He was awarded a Kemper Teaching Fellowship by the university and a Mortar Board Teaching Award. Lombardo's publications are primarily literary translations of Greek and Latin poetry, including Homer's “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” and translations of Sappho (a finalist for the 2003 Pen Literary Award for translation) and Virgil's “Aeneid” (a finalist for the 2005 Pen Literary Award for translation), among many other works.

The event is co-sponsored by the departments of Classics, English, Humanities and Western Civilization, Spanish and Portuguese, French and Italian, Religious Studies, Jewish Studies and Philosophy; the University Honors Program; the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Ermal Garinger Academic Resources Center; the Spencer Museum of Art; and the Hall Center for the Humanities.

The Department of Classics is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which encourages learning without boundaries in its more than 50 departments, programs and centers. Through innovative research and teaching, the College emphasizes interdisciplinary education, global awareness and experiential learning. The College is KU's broadest, most diverse academic unit.