I am writing this as Afghanistan descends once more into horror. A tiny Welsh part of me still thinks “the bloody English colonials, look what they started and didn’t finish – again.” And you could read the Gododdin this way,…
Blog Archives
Lament for the Fallen
Tagged with: Aneirin, books, Cynghanedd, Faber, Gillian Clarke, Gododdin, Hay Festival, Poetry, Translation, Welsh
Posted in books, history, literature, poetry
Posted in books, history, literature, poetry
Celestial Bodies
The second novel by Omani author Jokhar Alharthi, Sayyidat al-Qamar, is translated into English by Marilyn Booth as Celestial Bodies. Which are what? The men around whom the world revolves? That would be the answer one might expect from an…
Tagged with: Arabic, books, Celestial Bodies, Jokha Alharthi, Man Booker International Prize, Marilyn Booth, Oman, Sandstone Press, Translation
Posted in books, literature, Man Booker 2013, translation
Posted in books, literature, Man Booker 2013, translation
New snow, old words
New year, fresh snow. Fresh snow, old words. I first came across Gwerful Mechain this time last year through her most famous poem of all, translated as ‘Ode to My Cunt’ by Zoë Brigley Thompson for Modern Poetry in Translation.…
Tagged with: books, Broadview, Broadview Press, Gwerful Mechain, Katie Gramich, New Year, Poetry, Translation, Welsh
Posted in books, history, literature, poetry, translation
Posted in books, history, literature, poetry, translation
The Jeweller
The jeweller prepares the sanctuary. And you’re lured into it. Mari is a market stallholder in a small North Welsh town. Ordinary enough. Except The Jeweller is written by Caryl Lewis, who also wrote the fabulously dark hit thriller series…
Tagged with: books, Caryl Lewis, Gwen Davies, Hinterland, Honno Press, The Jeweller, Translation, Welsh, Y Gwyll
Posted in books, literature, translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
The Governesses
Something is happening in French-language literature right now that makes me dearly regret stopping at GCSE. In the last few months I’ve devoured three short and piercingly acute new translations from French that have made me think hard about animal…
Tagged with: Anne Serre, books, French, Mark Hutchinson, The Governesses, Translation
Posted in books, gender, literature, translation
Posted in books, gender, literature, translation
To Leave with the Reindeer
What makes humans different from other creatures? We draw a clear distinction, but maybe our actions show there’s less of a difference than we think in the way we try to raise children and animals. There is a lot of…
Tagged with: And Other Stories, books, French, Kiki Smith, Olivia Rosenthal, Sophie Lewis, To Leave with the Reindeer, Translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
Hell, freshly translated
Lent starts next week, so what better time to get your hands on a book about sinners, in their infinite variety, and where they end up? The gates of Hell open onto what some might consider the worst of the…
Tagged with: Alastair Gray, books, Dante, Divina Commedia, Hell, Illustration, Italian, Poetry, Translation
Posted in books, Illustration, literature, poetry, translation
Posted in books, Illustration, literature, poetry, translation
The year was so new, it yawned and stretched…
I was in London over new year, and there was one place I had to go. The British Library to see the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition. It is stuffed with treasures, including some of the earliest works ever written and translated…
Tagged with: books, Middle English, Poetry, Simon Armitage, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Translation
Posted in books, Christmas, Folklore, history, literature, translation
Posted in books, Christmas, Folklore, history, literature, translation
Those Whom I Would Like to Meet Again
A hundred years since Lithuania regained independence, all too briefly. Something to celebrate. I passed through in the summer, over sea and land from Helsinki to Warsaw and south-westwards. We didn’t stay long. I wish I had. My Polish grandmother…
Tagged with: 1918, books, Elizabeth Novickas, essays, Giedra Radvilavičiūtė, Lithuania, Lithuanian, Short Stories, Those Whom I Would Like to Meet Again, Translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
Posted in books, literature, translation
Swallowing Mercury
Wioletta Greg is frankly fantastic, and Eliza Marciniak has rendered her voice in English delightfully. A good friend gave this translation of Swallowing Mercury for my birthday, and her only concern was that I might have it already, but I might not…
Tagged with: books, Eliza Marciniak, National Translation Award, Polish, Swallowing Mercury, Translation, Wioletta Greg
Posted in books, history, literature, translation
Posted in books, history, literature, translation
found in translation 