We are thrilled to announce that The Sea-Migrations by Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf (translated from Somali by Clare Pollard with Maxamed Xasan ‘Alto’ and Said Jama Hussein) has been named the Poetry Book of the Year by The Sunday Times. In his review of the collection, which we published with Bloodaxe Books in November, Jeremy Noel-Tod says:
‘Sometimes a book reminds us of poetry’s real electric force in the world. Yusuf is a brilliant young Somali poet, living in exile in London, who takes “history’s point / to ink a beautiful literature”. Somali poetry is a tradition that demands virtuoso verbal technique to impress an audience. Translated into lapel-grabbing alliterative verse by Clare Pollard, these piercingly direct poems throw open a window onto a war-torn country and its wretchedly displaced people: “They are devoured, picked dry by sharks and sea creatures, / wild dogs eat them like darib, the best camel fat.”’
We couldn’t agree more! Thank you to English PEN who supported the translation through their PEN Translates programme.
To celebrate this fantastic news and a year of publishing the best poets from around the world, we are offering The Sea-Migrations and our other 2017 titles with no postage (yes, including international delivery!) for the month of December. Just in time for that Christmas rush…
Give the gift of poetry to a loved one this festive season and support the work of the PTC.
My Voice: A Decade of Poems from the Poetry Translation Centre £12
