Reptile He had been visited by countless frogs and snakes were nesting in his room. Although he was always trapped between trepidation and awe, he relished each encounter as … [Read more...]
Two poems from Transparency by Maria Borio, translated by Julia Anastasia Pelosi-Thorpe
Miniatures 2 You’re asleep and breathe nearby something of me that dissolves the air. Heel to brow at your side unmoving in the idea that above us something – it can be called Something – … [Read more...]
Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell, reviewed by Bethany Darby
Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell / Riverhead Books / 2019 / 978-0399184628 / 240 pages “In the flat darkness of the countryside. There is only disappointment, … [Read more...]
Three poems by Georges Rose, translated by Bryan F. Flavin
Mer cousue ligne de fer nappe ornée d’oiseaux ciels crevés de soies où s’affalent des lumières imprévisibles par endroit le revêtement de chair avec ses maisons plus lourdes brassards … [Read more...]
Imagine Touching Words: A New Lispector for Readers of English, reviewed by Pınar Türer
The Besieged City by Clarice Lispector. Trans. by Johnny Lorenz & Ed. by Benjamin MoserNew Directions / Penguin Random House / 2019 Lucrécia Neves “mulls over her inability to reason"; when we … [Read more...]
A Jewish Refugee in New York by Kadya Molodovsky, trans. Anita Norich, reviewed by Jessica Kirzane
A Jewish Refugee in New York by Kadya Molodovsky. Translated by Anita Norich / Indiana University Press / 978-0253040763 / 2019 / 172 pages. In some ways, the narrator of Kadya Molodovsky’s A … [Read more...]
Four poems translated from the Sanskrit by Brishti Guha
Translator's note:These poems from the Sanskrit “Gathasaptashati” are attributed to King Hala, a first-century AD ruler of the Satavahana dynasty in ancient South India. Hala’s version was in Prakrit, … [Read more...]
Paper-Thin Skin by Aigerim Tazhi, translated by J. Kates, reviewed by Eric Nguyen
Paper-Thin Skin by Aigerim Tazhi, translated from Russian by J. Kates / Zephyr Press / 978-1-938890901 / 2019 Aigerim Tazhi is a difficult poet to pin down. For one, she writes in Russian in … [Read more...]
Poems by Iranian poet Bijan Najdi, translated by Parisa Saranj
I have chosen the poetry of Bijan Najdi’s for its heartbroken yet hopeful and tender view of the world. Najdi’s poems provide a window into concerns of modern Persian poetry and Iranian society. I … [Read more...]
An excerpt from Rachmil Bryks’ memoir, The Fugitives, translated from the Yiddish by Yermiyahu Ahron Taub
Translated from the Yiddish by Yermiyahu Ahron Taub. Published with the permission of the author’s daughter, Bella Bryks-Klein Translator’s Note: “This is How It All Began” and “Fugitives” are the … [Read more...]
not written words by Xi Xi, translated from Chinese by Jennifer Feeley, reviewed by Sherrel McLafferty
not written words by Xi Xi, translated from Chinese by Jennifer Feeley / Zephyr Press / 978-1938890123 / 2016 Xi Xi’s not written words is a youthful collection of poems that remind readers that … [Read more...]
Six poems by Háel Lopez, translated by Ariel Francisco
Complete Turn Your heart fell into a glass of beer I watched it drown while tracing the rim with my finger. The pieces fall on terrible rhymes of an endless poem but you don’t get up, don’t … [Read more...]
Günter Grass: three translations and response poems by Allie Marini
These poems are dedicated to the memory of Dr. Glenn R. Cuomo, Professor of German Studies 1992-2017, New College of Florida, with whom the translator first began work on this project in 1997. Fishily … [Read more...]
5 poems by Miss Poetrix, translated from the Italian by Alessandra Bava
Translator's note: Miss Poetrix (pen name for Gaia Casanova) is a poet and performer from Rome, Italy. Her work is reminiscent of Italian poets such as Patrizia Valduga and American poets such as Anne … [Read more...]
Three poems by Edgar Rincón Luna, translated by Toshiya Kamei
Farewell to the Beach Why does this shadow that's no longer us hurt so much? why does that ash getting losing among stones make us cry? The heart of the world spills and caresses nobody's … [Read more...]
Six poems by Zheng Xiaoqiong/郑小琼, translated from Chinese by Zhou Xiaojing
周阳春 / Zhou Yangchun In the world of her dreams she stands at the ferry without boats or before she can finish the exam time is … [Read more...]
The Task of Translation in tasks by Víctor Rodríguez Núñez and Katherine M. Hedeen: A review essay by Olivia Lott
tasks by Víctor Rodríguez Núñez. Translated by Katherine M. Hedeen / co•im•press / 978-0988819962 / paperback / 131 pages / 2016 Reading tasks begins at its edges: a seven-part … [Read more...]
Translating the Counterculture: The Reception of the Beats in Turkey by Erik Mortenson, reviewed by Marc Olmsted
TRANSLATING THE COUNTERCULTURE The Reception of the Beats in Turkey by Erik Mortenson / Southern Illinois University Press / 978-0809336548 / 2018 The premise is a fascinating one. Erik Mortenson … [Read more...]
Juan Arabia: 5 poems translated by Katherine M. Hedeen
Juan Arabia (Buenos Aires, 1983) is a poet, translator, literary critic, and publisher. The poems included here belong to his collection Nature’s Dislodging [Desalojo de la naturaleza] (2017). Un … [Read more...]
Poems by Lucía Estrada, translated by Olivia Lott
The poems here come from Las Hijas del Espino [Daughters of the Hawthorn], winner of the 2006 Medellín Poetry Prize. Estrada’s poetic subject travels across centuries to highlight in each poem an … [Read more...]
Ian Haight in conversation with Dennis Maloney: writer, translator, editor of White Pine Press
Dennis Maloney is an award-winning poet, translator, and founding editor of White Pine Press. His works of translation include The Poet and the Sea: Poems of Juan Ramon Jimenez, The House in the Sand … [Read more...]
In Xochitl In Cuicatl: Poets Nezahualcoyotl and Humberto Ak’abal
Intrigue & Scope There’s an old story of the amate tree bark (i.e. amoxtli or codices/scrolls with pictographs whose texts resemble an accordion). These were first elaborated as “most likely in the … [Read more...]
6 poems by Lucas Margarit, translated by Katherine M. Hedeen
piety 1 1 A signal emitted by birds at the coldest moment of night. There is no longer devotion to holy things. Representation outside the borders of a wall-less cemetery. Raised rebuilding of … [Read more...]
Two poems by Vasilis Steriadis, translated by Yannis Livadas
The Greek poet Vasilis Steriadis [Βασίλης Στεριάδης] was one of the leading figures of Greek poetry during the period 1970-2000. Steriadis was born in 1947 in Volos and died in Athens, where he was … [Read more...]
Grzegorz Wróblewski: Blue Pueblo
Only for you did I wander around on water. Now it’s worms, black birds. Voices. Someone is calling me… Something on the floor. Illuminations… Circulation of atoms. No zen. I am breathing. … [Read more...]
Lucien Stryk: Zen in the art of translating Zen poetry
Once someone can leave aside the narrowminded attitude, a parallelism with the cultural outcome of the long-gone “counterculture”, and a few more notions considering guidelines for every-day … [Read more...]
Poems by Krisztián Tóbiás, translated by Károly Sándor Pallai
The stigmata of the masons are bleeding sticking together the bricks as a sacrifice is required a blood sacrifice to keep the walls from tumbling down and from striking them dead blinking … [Read more...]
Six Poems by Károly Fellinger, translated by Károly Sándor Pallai
MAGNIFYING The period during which God is still able to undo the creation is an average life expectancy. As the average age increases year by year, it’s all the more obvious that God becomes … [Read more...]
Translations of three poems by Helle Busacca
Helle Busacca (1915-1996) was born in Messina and moved with her family to Bergamo as a young child. She spent her working life as a high school teacher in various cities in Italy and ultimately … [Read more...]