Your monthly brainfood.
June/July 2023

Welcome to Scribbles, a monthly newsletter by Melanie Sindelar. I'm an art anthropologist, translator, and editor exploring the realms of culture, language, and creativity. Join me as I share my activities, insights, and inspiration from academia and beyond. This month: Why you should read a book about a falcon, what the Titanic has to do with academia, how to become a freelance academic, and a bullet-proof way to plan your summer writing. Enjoy!

What I've been up to last month

In early June, I attended the 38th Austrian Translators Seminar, hosted by the Austrian Association of Literary and Scientific Translators. This year's theme was Ein Wiesel sass auf einem Kiesel, which translates to "A weasel sat on a pebble." Set amidst the breathtaking Ysper Valley in Lower Austria, we immersed ourselves in the world of nature writing. Translating works by acclaimed authors like J.A. Baker, including the captivating The Peregrine, we tried to unravel the Baker's prose when translated to German. The New Yorker wrote about the beauty of The Peregrine in case you want to learn more. Below is an image of my lunch break walk in the beautiful valley.

A week later, I joined the annual conference of the Global (De)Center, a dynamic study network that fosters collaboration across diverse disciplines. We delved into thought-provoking discussions on decolonizing academia and reimagining our roles as scholars. The conference sparked transformative ideas on creating a more inclusive and globally interconnected academic landscape. I also realized that academia is a lot like the Titanic. The people on the lower deck are already drowning while the people on the upper decks are still living the life. Sounds familiar?

What I'm reading

This month I returned to a read that is golden. It's Katie Rose Guest Pryal's book The Freelance Academic. She describes her journey from an undervalued and burnt-out adjunct lecturer to a self-employed freelance writer. Is the other side of the grass always greener? Not necessarily so, and it takes some work to establish yourself outside the institutional logic of academia, but it is doable, and according to her, incredibly fulfilling. You can check out her book page here.

Tipps, Tricks, Survival Kit

It's summertime, and we are all ambitiously planning or starting our summer writing. And like every year, we plan too much and don't account for our holidays and weekend rest. How about trying a more sustainable way of planning your writing?

• Grab your calendar and three colors: red, yellow, and green.

• Red is for deadlines, yellow is for caution days, and green is for rest.

• Mark deadlines in red. Mark planned holidays and weekends in green. Mark busy days in yellow: those before a deadline and before/after a holiday when capacity is limited. We can't fully focus on our writing the day before a job application deadline or the day after returning from a holiday.

• Count the days unmarked and subtract 10% for buffer time. This realistically represents the days available for writing. Assess how many hours per day you can dedicate to your project. This will provide a clear estimate of achievable goals. Sounds sobering? Sure. But it is much more satisfying to reach small aims rather than miss big goals.

A last note

I'm leaving you a few lines of J.A. Baker's The Peregrine. The book adopts a diary format, but its elaborate and distinctive style sets it apart from traditional diaries.

October 3rd

Inland stagnant under fog. On the coast: hot sun and cooling breeze, the North Sea flat and shining. Fields of skylarks, singing, chasing, flashing in the sun. Saltings ringing with the redshank's cry. Shooting, at high tide. Shimmering columns of waders rising from the mud-flats, shaking out across the saltings. White beaches under haze. Waders flashing on the sea like spray, firing the dusty inland fields.

- J.A. Baker, The Peregrine, Collins, London 1967

Would you like to give the German translation a try? Send it to me, and I'll send you my version in turn. Just a heads up: Experienced translators in the seminar gave up halfway through because the text was so difficult. But this should not stop you! :)
 

Get in Touch