Yilin Wang is an award winning writer, poet, editor, and translator based in Vancouver, and recently has been passionately working on translating the works of 19th century feminist poet, Qiu Jin. So it came as a bit of a shock when she found out that the British Museum–that big national institution, holder of stolen artifacts, and symbol of British colonialism–had been using her translations in a major exhibit without credit, and importantly, without permission.
In this special “emergency” episode, we talk to Yilin about her fight to get the British Museum to own up to and rectify their mistake, and the broader systemic issues of erasure and academic theft that translators and writers constantly face.
And we talk about how listeners can help by contributing to her legal fund to get the British Museum to make things right and ensure this never happens again.
Donate now to the CrowdJustice fundraiser and help meet the goal of £15,000 by July 10!
Related Links
- Yilin Wang’s Personal Website
- The Lantern and the Night Moths, Yilin Wang’s forthcoming book from Invisible Publishing
- Twitter thread documenting the fight
Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].