Nicolas Billon: Yoshi and Morris Panych

nicolas billon: In a career spanning nearly half a century, Yoshi as he's known to the playwrights has translated more than 50 Canadian plays, for which he's earned honours like the Order of Canada in 2003, according to NOW Magazine. But while the artists whose work he translates are in the spotlight, Yoshi stays behind the scenes. What do Nicolas Billon, Morris Panych, Hannah Moscovitch and George F. Walker have in common They're big in Japan, thanks largely to one individual Toyoshi Yoshihara. In fact, he scarcely makes contact with the playwrights themselves. But according to Billon, who's had three plays translated by Yoshi The Elephant Song, Iceland and Butcher it's both. Translating a play without building a relationship with its playwright might make Yoshi's work seem more technical than artistic. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.