Join Diana Anphimiadi (Georgia) and Diana Bellessi (Argentina) for bilingual readings and discussion about their work to mark new publications from the Poetry Translation Centre. Anphimiadi’s book Why I No Longer Write Poems is the first full-length selection in English from one of Georgia’s most acclaimed poets. Her poems range from the contemporary thrum of a train carriage to the ancient grievance of Greek myth, navigating the heartache and absurdity of love, and offering profound reflections on the limits and possibilities of language itself. The book has been collaboratively translated from the Georgian by translator Natalia Bukia-Peters and poet Jean Sprackland.
Diana Bellessi is often credited as the pioneer of LGBTQI+ poetry in Latin America, and her poetry, which gives voice to the working classes and ecological activism alongside championing feminist and queer rights, has influenced many prominent South American writers. To Love a Woman collects poems from across her 25 books, translated into English by Leo Boix.
This event will take place live in St Andrews, with Diana Bellessi appearing via Zoom.
The Poets and Translators
Diana Anphimiadi is a poet, publicist, linguist and teacher. Currently, a doctoral student at the linguistic institute at the Tbilisi Javahkishvili University, Diana has published four collections of poetry, Shokoladi (Chocolate 2008), Konspecturi Mitologia (Resumé of Mythology, 2009), Alhlokhedvis Traektoria (Trajectory of the Short-Sighted, 2012 and Chrdilis Amoch’ra (Cutting the Shadow, 2015). Her poetry has received prestigious awards, including first prize in the 2008 Tsero (Crane Award) and, in 2009, the Saba Prize for the best first collection. Diana lives in Tblisi with her husband and young son.
Diana Bellessi is a poet from the province of Santa Fé in Argentina. Born in 1946, she has become one of the foremost voices in Latin America, her many awards include: 1993 Guggenheim Fellowship in poetry, 1996 Antorchas Foundation fellowship, 2004 Premio Konex, Merit Award, 2007 Fondo Nacional de las Artes, lifetime award in poetry. She is considered to be the godmother of feminist / LGBTQI+ / Lesbian poetry in Argentina and her work demonstrates a deep commitment to progressive politicals, ecological conservation and the social condition of the working class in Argentina and Latin America. Her poetry is seen as groundbreaking for its depiction of Lesbian desire and has exerted a strong influence on prominent poets and writers from the 80s and 90s through to the present day.
Jean Sprackland’s recent collection, Sleeping Keys, was published in 2013, and Tilt won the Costa Poetry Award in 2007. She is also author of Strands, the winner of the Portico Prize for Non Fiction. Jean is Professor of Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Chair of the Poetry Archive.
Natalia Bukia-Peters is a freelance translator, interpreter and teacher of Georgian and Russian. She studied at Tbilisi State, Ilia Chavchavadze University and holds a Masters degree from Leiden University, the Netherlands. She has been a translator for the Poetry Translation Centre and a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists in London for several years.
Leo Boix is a Latino British poet, translator and journalist based in the UK. He has published two collections in Spanish, Un lugarpropio (2015) and Mar de noche (2017), and was included in many anthologies, such as Ten: Poets of the New Generation (Bloodaxe) and Why Poetry? (Verve Poetry Press). His English poems have appeared in Poetry, The Poetry Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, PNReview, The Rialto, Litro, Magma, Brittle Star, Letras Libres, South Bank Poetry, The Morning Star, The Laurel Review and elsewhere. Boix is a fellow of The Complete Works Program and co-director of ‘Invisible Presence’, a scheme to nurture new young voices of Latino poets in the UK.
Diana Anphimiadi’s tour has been co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
