The PTC returns to translate more Tamil poetry by Sugan, a Sri Lankan poet living in exile in Paris. Sugan was one of earliest and rare voices to question the centrality of war, authoritarianism, and violence at the heart of Tamil Nationalist thought and struggle. He has edited several volumes of dissent literature and Dalit criticism.

Previously we translated another poem by Sugan called Arrival that highlighted the poet's key themes, including his critical take on Sri Lankan poetry of war and trauma.

This is a great opportunity to experience the translation process first-hand and explore Tamil language and culture. It’s a great opportunity to develop your translation skills and meet like-minded language lovers.

There is no need to know Tamil to take part in this workshop. Everyone is welcome.

Poet Sugan

Sugan is a Sri Lankan Tamil poet/writer living in Paris, France. He was a key figure within the exiled Eelam Tamil dissent ‘little magazine’ culture of the late 80s and 90s. Published across several Tamil-language journals (that came out of the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Denmark, France and Canada) with very limited print run and private circulation, his poems remain difficult to find.

Guest translator Hari Rajaledchumy

Hari Rajaledchumy is an artist, writer, and poet based in London. She primarily works in installation, text, and poetry. Rajaledchumy was recently an artist associate at the studio-based Open School East programme. Her works have been published in Puthiya Sol (Sri Lanka), Sari Nihar (Sri Lanka), Manal Veedu (India) and Aakkaddi (France).

Poet-facilitator Chrissy Williams

Each season of PTC translation workshops is led by a poet, in this case we are delighted to be working with poet, editor and comic book writer Chrissy Williams. Her writing has been featured on BBC radio and television, and her full poetry collections are Bear (Bloodaxe, 2017) and Low (Bloodaxe, 2021). She edits the online poetry journal Perverse, and has run numerous workshops over the years. She has an Italian mother and English father, and was raised bilingually.