Dusseldorf

This week may well be entirely spent in Dusseldorf. Or it may not. Things are being planned, but I don’t know the dates. I do know, however, that I am giving workshops. My favourite one is a subject I used to teach a lot and haven’t had the chance and … it’s going to be so much fun. A whole group of German translators are going to learn how to write battle scenes from the Old French epic legends. The epic legends were written in Old French. I cannot write in Old French, though i can still read it, so I teach in English. I’ve used the English writing to show how language changes the way we think about things and so, after the group had learned how to write an Old French poetic technique into English… they’re going to translate their verse into German. They are all far better linguists than me, so I’m going to learn a lot by teaching them. If I’m really lucky, I will learn some really effective German insults, along the way. I do not expect the students will use them on me. Insults just happen to be a part of that form of verse…

The details of the other workshop won’t be public for a few days (as I write this). That gives me a great quandary – do I tell you, because it will all be known by the time you read this? Or do I obey everyone and not tell you. I am obedient tonight, largely because it’s an impossible hour here and I am especially obedient when it means I get to sleep a few minutes faster! If you want to know what else I did in Dusseldorf this week (including that workshop) ask, and I’ll be forced to tell you when I return.