CANCELLED: It is with great regret that the PTC and our partners Manchester Poetry Library have taken the decision to cancel this event due to the escalation of the COVID-19 outbreak. We will be refunding ticket holders and plan to hold this workshop again in the future.

The Poetry Translation Centre are proud to be teaming up with once again with the Manchester Poetry Library. In this workshop, we will be looking at the work of Túbọ̀sún Ọládàpọ̀, a Nigerian poet, playwright and radio-personality known as ‘the loquacious parrot’. He also has his own record label Olatubosun Records that promotes the work of indigenous-language artists and folk poets across the Yorùbá speaking parts of Africa. In this workshop, we will be looking at his work with linguist and cultural activist Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún and poet and editor Nia Davies.

There is no need to know Yorùbá to take part in this workshop. We are open to everyone with an interest in poetry or translation.

At the PTC's collaborative translation sessions we start with a poem by a respected living poet from Asia, Africa or Latin America and produce an English translation. This hands-on practice gives participants a chance to experience the fine balancing act of the translation process and helps these poets find a new audience in a second language.

Túbọ̀sún Ọládàpọ̀ is a Nigerian poet, playwright and radio-personality finds and promotes the work of indigenous-language artists and folk poets across the Yorùbá speaking parts of Africa. He has recorded many poetry albums, accompanied by songs and dance. His published poetry includes Aroye Akewi (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) and Arofo Awon Omode (poetry for children). His plays Ògún Lákáayé and E gbádé Fáládé were joint prize winners of the Oxford University Press drama competition in 1970. He has produced over two hundred other artists producing in Yorùbá.

Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún has worked for many years as a linguist (formerly at Google), lexicographer (Oxford University Press dictionaries), Fulbright scholar of Yorùbá (Southern Illinois University), and schoolteacher of English in Lagos, Nigeria. His works of poetry, essay, criticism, translation, and travel writing have been published in AfricanWriter.com, BrittlePaper, International Literary Quarterly, Enkare Review, Popula, Saraba Magazine, and others. His debut collection of poetry Edwardsville by Heart was published by Wisdom’s Bottom Press, UK, in November 2018. In 2016, he was the recipient of the “Special Prize” of Premio Ostana, given for work in indigenous language advocacy. He is currently a Chevening Research Fellow at the British Library.

Nia Davies was born in Sheffield and lives in Wales. Her first book-length collection of poems All fours (Bloodaxe Books, 2017) follows the pamphlets England (Crater, 2017), Çekoslovakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdanmısınız or Long Words (Hafan/Boiled String, 2016) and Then Spree (Salt, 2012). She has been editor of the international quarterly magazine Poetry Wales since 2014. Her poems and essays have been published and translated widely and she has appeared at several international festivals. She has worked on and co-curated transcultural collaborative projects.