About the Shuar
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.
The Adventures of ‘Beauty’
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’.
Tres poetas mexicanos
Tom Boll introduce la obra de tres destacados poetas mexicanos, Coral Bracho, David Huerta y Víctor Terán.
Three Mexican Poets
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’.
Translating Poetries Symposium
In September the PTC will run a two days symposium for translation practitioners with SOAS University of London. We are looking for leading translators to participate.
Some Thoughts on Co-Translating Gaarriye
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.
Introduction to Isthmus Zapotec
This article gives a brief introduction to Isthmus Zapotec, the indigenous Mexican language spoken in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Translating Farzaneh Khojandi
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’.
Translating Noshi Gillani
Nukhbah Langah reveals the challenges she experienced in translating Noshi Gillani’s intense, ambiguous and exceptionally complex poetry from Urdu into English.
Translating Kajal Ahmad
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.