Translating Lowly Creatures: Language, Literature and the Living World
About the session
How does the translator's role convey voice, tone and meaning across linguistic boundaries? This event invites language lovers and curious minds to explore the intersections between French literature, philosophy, translation and the living world beneath our feet.
Join Professor Jacqueline Dutton in conversation with acclaimed translator Stephanie Smee to discuss Gaspard Koenig's Lowly Creatures, a work that brings together French literature, philosophy and environmental reflection to reveal the hidden worlds that sustain life.
The conversation will explore the work of literary translators, examining the challenges and creative decisions involved in bringing a contemporary French work to English-speaking audiences. Drawing on key passages from the text, it will consider how translation mediates not only language, but also philosophical ideas, cultural perspectives and literary traditions, while exploring themes of humanity's relationship with nature, the future of agriculture, and the overlooked organisms on which ecosystems depend.
What to expect
A 60-minute conversation with literary discussion and translation insights including selected passages read by students in both French and English.
Being Human 2026
This project was produced in collaboration with the 2026 Being Human Festival. Founded in the UK as the only national festival of the humanities, Being Human is now a global celebration dedicated to demonstrating the breadth, diversity and vitality of the humanities.
About the speakers
Professor Jacqueline Dutton
Jacqueline (Jackie) Dutton is Professor of French Studies at the University of Melbourne where she focuses on literature, cinema, food, wine, travel and utopia as intercultural products of global, national, and regional geopolitics. She has published widely in all of these areas and her co-edited book The Routledge Handbook of Wine and Culture won the Organisation Internationale du Vin prize in 2023. She is Founding Director of The Pinot Noir Project (www.thepinotnoirproject.org) and Co-Chair of the Global Humanities Alliance - Sustainability and Climate Change Working Group (https://globalhumanitiesalliance.org/).
Stephanie Smee
Stephanie is an award-winning literary translator who works primarily from French into English, with additional expertise in German, Italian and Swedish. After practising law in Sydney and London, she returned to her passion for languages, transitioning from legal translation to literary works. Her acclaimed translations include Claire Berest’s 'FRIDA', Antoine Wauters’ 'The Museum of Contradictions', Pascal Janovjak’s 'The Rome Zoo', Hélène Gaudy’s 'A World with No Shore', and Joseph Ponthus’s 'On the Line'. Stephanie has also translated works by Hannelore Cayre and Françoise Frenkel, bringing internationally celebrated and thought-provoking stories to English-speaking readers worldwide.
Further information
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