When the Naked Mole Rat Speaks: How Do You Translate Non-Human Narrators? – Reading & Discussion with Lisa Mensing, Felix Meyer zu Venne, Karen Nölle, and Tim Holland

But how can the unusual senses of an animal narrator be conveyed in German? How emotionally expressive can we allow an AI to speak? And what imagery preserves the otherness of a voice that is not human?

To kick off the decentralized symposium “Translating the Future,” this evening brings together three translators who give voice to the non-human. Through readings and discussion, we’ll explore how translation engages with the “not-yet”: the struggle to find images for what the world is and what it could be.

Lisa Mensing discusses her translation of Tijl Nuyts’ novel “Erdarbeiten,” in which a female naked mole rat turns the European administrative center upside down.

Karen Nölle has been translating the legendary science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin for years, lending her voice to a wide variety of creatures in the process.

And sinologist Felix Meyer zu Venne, who has already translated works featuring rats, AI, and dragon horses, travels regularly to China and offers insight into the non-human narratives of Chinese science fiction. Tim Holland will moderate the event.

Lisa Mensing, born in 1989, works as a translator from Dutch and hosts readings. Among others, she has translated Gaea Schoeters, Hanna Bervoets, Frank Martinus Arion, and Christien Brinkgreve into German. She lives in Münster.

Felix Meyer zu Venne is a sinologist, translator, and Chinese teacher. He has been a member of the editorial board of the science fiction magazine *Kapsel* since 2018; he has served as co-editor of the magazine since 2021. Among others, he has translated works by Jia Pingwa, Xia Jia, Jiang Bo, Baoshu, Regina Kanyu Wang, and Chi Hui into German.

Karen Nölle lives in Holstein Switzerland as a literary translator, editor, and author. She translates from English, almost exclusively fiction, almost always by female authors; currently, she focuses primarily on Annie Dillard and Ursula K. Le Guin, whose latest collection, *The Day Before the Revolution*, featuring 26 stories, was published in the fall of 2025.

Tim Holland lives in Berlin, where he works as an author, literary educator, and co-publisher at hochroth München. His most recent work is the long poem “wir zaudern, wir brennen” (2022), which was also realized as a kinetic installation. An important part of his artistic practice is the promotion of literature.