Essays

16/12/2011
About the Shuar

by Nataly Kelly

Translator Nataly Kelly's article gives an introduction to the Shuar people, one of the largest Amazonian indigenous groups, of which poet María Clara Sharupi Jua is a member.
23/05/2011
The Adventures of 'Beauty'

by Partaw Naderi

The Afghan poet, Partaw Naderi, was invited to take part in the PTC's first World Poets' Tour in 2005. In this article he writes about the excitment he felt at being invited to the UK and he reveals the true inspiration behind his poem, 'Beauty'.
12/04/2010
Tres poetas mexicanos

by Tom Boll

Tom Boll introduce la obra de tres destacados poetas mexicanos, Coral Bracho, David Huerta y Víctor Terán.
02/04/2010
Three Mexican Poets

by Tom Boll

Tom Boll introduces the work of the three distinguished Mexican poets, Coral Bracho, David Huerta and Victor Teran, each of whom 'offers a distinctive version of what it means to live in Mexico today'.
24/08/2009
Some Thoughts on Co-Translating Gaarriye

by W N Herbert

W N Herbert offers a fascinating insight into how he approached co-translating Somali poetry. In this essay he describes his induction into the marvellous complexities of Somali verse and how he came to terms with the formal dexterities of Gaarriye's 'non-lyric' poetry.
19/07/2009
Translating Corsino Fortes

by Daniel Hahn

Prize-winning translator, Daniel Hahn, writes about how he approached translating Corsino Fortes's poems with Sean O'Brien. This was Daniel's first experience of translating poetry, and his first as a co-translator and he's very interesting on how he felt his role was to 'defend' the original poems.
01/07/2009
Introduction to Isthmus Zapotec

by David Shook

This article gives a brief introduction to Isthmus Zapotec, the indigenous Mexican language spoken in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.
07/01/2009
Translating Farzaneh Khojandi

by Jo Shapcott

Jo Shapcott enthuses about the 'magic' of translating Farzaneh Khojandi with Narguess Farzad. She talks about the 'daunting' challenges she faced coming to terms with a poet whose work 'seemed worlds away from the modern, urban context of my own work'.
01/12/2008
Translating Kajal Ahmad

by Mimi Khalvati

Mimi Khalvati expresses her desire to preserve, 'The sweetness and simplicity of [Kajal's] voice, the political and personal passion, the directness and immediacy of the address ... [together with her] sense of humour and the fable-like quality of the poems', in the translations she made with Choman Hardi.
01/12/2008
Translating Noshi Gillani

by Nukhbah Langah

Nukhbah Langah reveals the challenges she experienced in translating Noshi Gillani's intense, ambiguous and exceptionally complex poetry from Urdu into English.
08/11/2008
Translating the Poetry of Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac 'Gaarriye' for the World Poets' Tour 2008

by Martin Orwin

Martin Orwin describes his initial approach to translating Gaarriye's poetry as 'an intense, deep reading'. He aims to make literal versions that 'come to rest on the page dancing to as close a tune as possible as the original'. And he discusses the significance of 'the interaction between syntax, metre and alliteration' in Somali poetry.
15/07/2008
Translating Noshi Gillani

by Lavinia Greenlaw

Lavinia Greenlaw writes about the impact that listening to Noshi Gillani read her poems had on her translations: 'I had in my head Emily Dickinson's dashes - how they hold the parts of her poems in mid-air, or the artist Cornelia Parker's suspended cutlery and blown-up shed.'
13/03/2008
'Singing About the Dark Times': Poetry and Conflict

by Sarah Maguire

Sarah Maguire argues that 'translating poetry is the opposite of war' in the keynote lecture that she was invited to give at the StAnza Festival in 2008.

On these pages you can find reviews of our translations and events; interviews with our poets and translators; blog posts; and a selection of fascinating essays on translation by some of the UK's best known poets and translators.

Articles

Essays

Categories