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Jen Hofer

ジェン・ホーファー

Jen Hofer

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1971 （San Francisco）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Born in San Francisco; resides in Los Angeles

Career

Occupations
poet, translator, interpreter, adjunct professor
Active Years
1999-
Affiliations
Antena (co-founder), Otis College of Art and Design (adjunct faculty), California Institute of the Arts (former adjunct faculty)

Awards

PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
2012
Work: Negro Marfil / Ivory Black (translation of Myriam Moscona)
Organization: PEN America
Result: winner
Harold Morton Landon Translation Award
2012
Work: Negro Marfil / Ivory Black (translation of Myriam Moscona)
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

As far as

1999 Poetry

Early collection of poems exploring language, visuality, and fragmentary images.

language experimentationfragmentationvisual poetics

Slide rule

2002 Poetry

A collection characterized by experimental layout and rhythm.

formal experimentationlanguage and the body

Ivory Black (Negro Marfil / Ivory Black)

2011 Translation (poetry)

Jen Hofer's English translation of Myriam Moscona's work; noted for negotiating between languages and exploring ambivalences between binaries.

translation theoryboundaries between languagescross-cultural dialogue

Bibliography

  • As far as (1999)
  • Slide rule (2002)
  • Lawless (2003)
  • Laws (2007)
  • Going Going (2007)
  • 13 things I would photograph for you if I could (2009)
  • One (2009)
  • Trouble: August 2009, 3:15 a.m. (2010)
  • Lead & Tether (2011)
  • The Missing Link (2014)
  • Ivory Black / Negro Marfil (translation, 2011)

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Myriam Moscona's Negro Marfil / Ivory Black (Ivory Black, 2011)
  • Translation of Laura Solórzano's Lip Wolf (2007)
  • Translations of Dolores Dorantes' volumes (2008)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
fragmentary and visual poetry rich in language experimentationa style that questions the relation between source and translation
Recurring Motifs
the blurring of binarieslanguage boundariesthe metatextual nature of translation

Legacy

Jen Hofer is known for experimental linguistic work across translation and poetry, receiving international recognition particularly for her translation of Myriam Moscona. She is also recognized for co-founding Antena, a collective oriented toward language justice and collaborative practice.

Quotes

  • PEN judges described Hofer's translation as articulating writing "as a gesture hovering between binaries, bodies, languages, modes of perception, cultures... [and is] reflexively about translation."
    Source: PEN America (2012) (2012)

Trivia

  • Co-founded Antena (a language justice and language experimentation collaborative) with JD Pluecker.
  • Serves as an adjunct professor at Otis College of Art and Design.
  • Won both the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award in 2012.
  • Born in San Francisco and resides in Los Angeles.