A Seattle-based translator on 'We Computers,' dirty jokes and AI-proof careers

Shelley Fairweather-Vega is a Seattle-based translator.  She’s responsible for the English edition of Uzbek writer Hamid Ismailov’s novel “We Computers.” For that work, Fairweather-Vega is a finalist for a 2025 National Book Award in the translated literature category.  She wrote in the afterword to “We Computers,” that she tried to find room in the plot for the poetry, and room for the poetry in the plot.  We talk with her about her work and the community of translators around the Puget Sound. Guest  Shelley Fairweather-Vega Related Links We Computers: A Conversation with Hamid Ismailov and Shelley Fairweather-Vega - Yale University Press 2025 National Book Awards: Seattle writer, translator longlisted - The Seattle Times Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes. Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.