‘Translating poetry is the opposite of war’ Sarah Maguire

Throughout 2024, the Poetry Translation Centre is celebrating its 20th birthday with a jam-packed programme of events, workshops, publications and prizes.

To celebrate the poets and translators they have worked with over the past two decades, they have planned five themed showcases in Norfolk, Newcastle, Ledbury, London, Sheffield and Manchester. In preparation, they’ve been building relationships with communities in those regions, partnering with an array of leading cultural and community organisations to run informal workshops and events exploring ideas around translation.

The PTC will also publish four astonishing books this year, including their groundbreaking anthology Living In Language (published in March), a new World Poet Series title, Real by Turkish poet Karin Karakaşlı, translated by Canan Marasligil and Sarah Howe; a new title by Mexican poet Victor Terán, translated by Shook from Zapotec; and Translations of the Route, a collection by Argentine poet Laura Wittner translated by Juana Adcock, published in partnership with Bloodaxe Books. Laura will be touring the UK in October.

The Poetry Translation Centre was established by the poet Sarah Maguire in 2004, to introduce new audiences to leading poets from around the world, as well as better understand and celebrate the diverse communities who have made their home in the UK. They focus on poetry from Africa, Asia and Latin America, working collaboratively with poets and translators to bring new work to English-speaking audiences in the UK. International poets we have worked with include Coral Bracho, Mohan Rana and Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi.

The translations begin at regular workshops where poets, translators and poetry enthusiasts work towards new English versions of poems, starting with a literal or ‘close’ translation. These workshops are also where new poets are discovered and new collaborations are formed. The final version of each poem is completed either in the workshops themselves or by pairs of English language poets and translators who they invite to work in partnership.

For more information on the Poetry Translation Centre’s forthcoming events, please go
here.

Women Poets in Translation at Newcastle Poetry Festival

Both women in translation and women translators have long been underrepresented in publishing. In 2018, less than one third of books translated into English were by women. So we’re celebrating two leading poets from Tbilisi, Georgia, and their three collaborative translators.

Salome Benidze’s work explores romantic love and all its corollaries: longing, regret, trauma, confession, revelation, even war.

Meanwhile, Diana Anphimiadi’s award-winning collection Why I No Longer Write Poems takes us from the contemporary thrum of a train carriage to the ancient grievance of the women of Greek myth.

These poets have been translated by three prize-winning women writers, Natalia Bukia-Peters with Helen Mort and Jean Sprackland respectively, all of whom will join us on stage in Newcastle. We’ll hear poems in Georgian and their English translations, followed by a discussion about women in poetry, translation and language.

To book tickets for this event, please go here.

Many thanks to Grace Pilkington – grace@readmedia.co.uk.