In October 2011, André Naffis-Sahely introduced us to the poetry of the great Moroccan poet, Abdellatif Laâbi, who writes in French. We really enjoyed translating ‘Far From Baghdad’, Abdellatif Laâbi’s long, profoundly ironic and bitter poem written following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and we were really pleased to have another opportunity to translate more of his work with André Naffis-Sahely.
We completed three, quite brilliant poems: ‘Knowledge is unforgiving’, ‘One hand isn’t enough to write with’ and ‘The Manuscript’. We hope you enjoy reading them. Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
Our poetry translation workshops are one of the PTC’s core activities. Through them we’ve first encountered some of the poets we’ve gone on to translate, publish and record at length. A significant number of the poets who’ve visited the UK to take part in our tours were introduced to us by a translator bringing their poems to a workshop.
The workshops are open to anyone who can contribute a translation of a poem by a living African, Asian or Latin American poet who has an established reputation in their own language.
Workshops are free but places are limited so advance booking is essential. If you’ve not attended one of our workshops before, please read this before booking a place
