Poet Andrew McMillan Discovers Joy & Beauty
Award winning poet Andrew McMillan takes a look at the new PTC website and discovers the ‘Beauty’ by Afghan poet Partaw Naderi and digs deeper to find the story behind the poem.
Hamid Kabir on Translating Reza Mohammadi
Translator Hamid Kabir writes how the commission to co-translate Reza Mohammadi’s poems was an entirely new experience for him and how it enriched his appreciation both of poetry in Persian and his knowledge of English.
Maura Dooley on Translating Azita Ghahreman
Poet Maura Dooley describes how she and Elhum Shakerifar translated Iranian poet, Azita Ghahreman, for the PTC’s Persian Poets’ Tour 2012. And how, at the end of the tour, she remembered the significant role that translation had played in her own parents’ courtship seventy years ago.
Nick Laird on Translating Reza Mohammadi
Nick Laird describes stages he went through translating Reza Mohammadi’s poems – from unsuccessful early drafts through a transformative experience of hearing Reza read – that led to the ‘weird pleasure’ of translating: ‘like opening your mouth and finding someone else’s voice come out’.
Mimi Khalvati on Translating Shakila Azizzada
Poet Mimi Khalvati describes how much she enjoyed the experience of translating Afghan poet, Shakila Azzizada with Zuzanna Olszewska, a process she found much easier having translated Kurdish poet, Kajal Ahmad, with us in 2008.
Language through Language: After an Evening of Persian Poetry at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Our evening of Persian poetry at The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham prompted poet and academic, Gregory Leadbetter, to write this insightful article about what Eliot called ‘the auditory imagination’ and the significance of sound in translating, reading and listening to poetry.
Zuzanna Olszewska on Translating Shakila Azizzada
Zuzanna Olszewska writes about the challenges and pleasures of translating Afghan poet, Shakila Azizzada, with Mimi Khalvati for the PTC’s Persian Poets’ Tour 2012
Clare Pollard on Translating Caasha Lul Mohamud Yusuf
In this fascinating essay, poet Clare Pollard talks about how vital the process of learning about Somali culture – camels, khat and all – helped her translate Caasha’s poetry. And how she turned to early English alliterative verse for inspiration.
Elhum Shakerifar on Translating Azita Ghahreman
Translator Elhum Shakerifar discusses how she approached translating Iranian poet, Azita Ghahreman, with Maura Dooley. Elhum talks about the challenges of translating such a complex poet into English and how she and Maura responded to the difficulties they faced.
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.