"and even when there's nowhere left, no refuge for their pain, they turn to the illusion of travelling" - Kajal Ahmad, translated by Mimi Khalvati

January 2, 2013 3:30 PM

The Poetry Translation Centre pairs living poets from Asia, Africa and Latin America with English-language translators and then puts the resulting translations online. You can browse the poetry by country, language, translator or poet. Besides the hundreds of individual poems, all presented in the original and both literal and poetic translations, many have been recorded in dual readings by translator and poet, and put online as videos or mp3s (look for the microphone or camera icon). There are also podcasts to download, articles to read, and chapbooks to purchase. It is absurd to single out a few poems as favorites, but nonetheless, here are a few that struck me hard, Birds by Kajal Ahmad, translated by Mimi Khalvati, Cataclysm and Songs by Conceição Lima, translated in a workshop, and Survivors by Choe Young-mi, translated by Kyoo Lee and Sarah Maguire (who is the founder and director of the Poetry Translation Centre). If these poems do not hit you, no need to worry as there are literally hundreds more to read. [via The Guardian]
posted by Kattullus (5 comments total)

Oh this is super neat! I'm rifling through the Zapotec poems and am enjoying the notes and backstories that go along with some of the translations.
posted by iamkimiam at 4:31 PM on January 2, 2013

There are two translations of Survivors...somebody left a comment with an alternate version (in addition to the literal translation, so technically three translations so far). Would love to hear more interpretations or insights about the translation of this short and beautiful poem...any native Korean speakers want to take a look?
posted by iamkimiam at 4:41 PM on January 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

Very cool.
posted by Pseudoephedrine at 7:27 PM on January 2, 2013

These are great, I'm glad to know about this resource.
posted by daisystomper at 7:53 PM on January 2, 2013

cooooooool.
posted by threeants at 9:38 PM on January 2, 2013