From Gaelic to Mongolian, the magical world of Harry Potter has been translated into over 80 languages. But there was a notable exception…

“Oy vey!” cried Harry “80 translations and no Yiddish?”

This is an event celebrating the first version published in Yiddish, and the man who made it all possible – Arun Schaechter Viswanath. His first run of books sold out in just 2 days. 

Book now to hear from Arun, the 29-year-old start-up employee, hyperpolyglot Harvard graduate, Harry Potter fan, and translator in conversation with Dvora Zylberman.

Arun “Arele” Schaechter Viswanath grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey in a Yiddish- and Tamil-speaking home. “Harry Potter” is his first foray into literary translation, previously having translated letters and historical documents. Arun enjoys bouldering, playing board games, and learning new languages and instruments. He resides with his wife Tali in New York, where he works in analytics at a tech company

Dvora Zylberman is a Yiddish and Jewish Studies teacher at Sholem Aleichem College. She lives and breathes Yiddish language and culture, having studied Yiddish all across the globe. Dvora contributes to various Yiddish projects and runs her own Yiddish educational resources website ‘Mameloshn’. She is also a co-chair of Melbourne’s ‘In One Voice’ Festival, which celebrates the diversity of vibrancy of the Melbourne Jewish Community. A graduate of Monash University, she completed a Bachelor’s degree in Arts/Education with a major in Jewish Civilisation. Dvora currently serves as the co-vice president of the Jewish Labour Bund Inc.

The third edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Yiddish will be available soon. Sign up to the waiting list and be the first to know when it becomes available https://harrypotter.olniansky.com/

Sunday, 5th July 12pm Sydney time on ZOOM (Click here to check your time zone)