DUAL Poetry Podcast

This week's poem is by Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf. The poem is read first in English translation by Clare Pollard and then in Somali by Asha herself.

We are celebrating the launch of the anthology, So At One With You, an anthology of modern poetry in Somali produced in collaboration with Kayd Somali Arts & Culture and Poetry Translation Centre. Asha's poems can be found within this.

 
 
Direct download: ALMY_THE_RAIN_THAT_STOPS_THE_CARAVAN.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am UTC

A chilly poem: ‘Snow’ by the wonderful Iranian poet, Azita Ghahreman, who now lives in exile in snowy Sweden.

The seemingly endless snow is a metaphor for the hopelessness the poet feels – she and her lover are lost in its vastness. Only ‘a single stray earring’ can be seen – ‘not a tree, not a rabbit, not a star’.

You can buy the book  'Negative of A Group Photo' from the PTC online: petrytranslation.org/shop.

Direct download: PP_Azita_Snow_4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:53pm UTC

Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf‘s poem 'The Sca'b is a passionate critique of the caste system, a 'belief in the noble gob and the lower caste gun.'

Asha’s Friend and longtime translator Clare Pollard will read the English translation. Then you will hear Asha read in the original Somali

Last year Asha Lul's collection The Sea-Migrations was named the Poetry Book of the Year by The Sunday Times.

You can buy The Sea-Migrations here.

If you would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Direct download: ALMY_THE_SCAB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:49am UTC

Diana Anphimiadi is a poet, publicist, linguist and teacher. Jean Sprackland was the poem's poet-translator. This is a synesthetic poem, where the senses are confused, it reaches for a language beyond words, perhaps a language between two lovers.

The poet-translator Jean Sprackland noted that in Georgian the word for 'Braille' is close to the word for 'Fault' but this was a suggested meaning that was impossible to pull across in her translation.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

This December you can get a gift set of both of our Georgian Chapbooks for the sale price of £10. 

 https://www.poetrytranslation.org/shop/our-2018-chapbooks-gift-set

Direct download: Diana_Anphimiadi__Braille.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:57pm UTC

This week’s poem is 'Crow’s Final Frontier' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. This is from a set of new recordings we made of Azita reading her poems in October 2018 when she was in the UK to launch her new book 'Negative of A Group Photo' published by the PTC and Bloodaxe Books.

First, you can hear Azita tell us a bit about the poem and read the original text in Persian, then her poet-translator Maura Dooley will read her translation in English.

You can buy the book  'Negative of A Group Photo' from the PTC online: poetrytranslation.org/shop

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: AzitaGhahremanCrowsFinalFrontier2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:38pm UTC

This week’s poem is by 'Gaarriye' from Somalia. The poem is read first in English translation by Martin Orwin and then in Somali by 'Gaarriye'.

If you enjoy this recording and would like to find out more about 'Gaariye' and all the other poets we’ve translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org.

You can find this poem and more in the anthology, 'So At One With You', an anthology of modern poetry in Somali produced in collaboration with Kayd Somali Arts & Culture and Poetry Translation Centre. 

Direct download: PP_Seer_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am UTC

This week's poem is by the Somali poet Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi. The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Somali by Jaamac himself. If you enjoy this recording and would like to find out more about Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi and all the other poets we’ve translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org.

This month we are celebrating the launch of the anthology, 'So At One With You', an anthology of modern poetry in Somali produced in collaboration with Kayd Somali Arts & Culture and Poetry Translation Centre. 

Direct download: PP_Jaamac_Politics_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:12pm UTC

This week’s poem is 'Night Demon' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. This is from a set of new recordings we made of Azita reading her poems in October 2018 when she was in the UK to launch her new book 'Negative of A Group Photo' published by the PTC and Bloodaxe Books.

First, you can hear Azita tell us a bit about the poem and read the original text in Persian, then her poet-translator Maura Dooley will read her translation in English.

You can buy the book  'Negative of A Group Photo' from the PTC online: poetrytranslation.org/shop

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: AzitaNightDemon.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:30pm UTC

This week's poem is by Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf. The poem is read first in English translation by Clare Pollard and then in Somali by Asha herself.

This month we are celebrating the launch of the anthology, 'So At One With You', an anthology of modern poetry in Somali produced in collaboration with Kayd Somali Arts & Culture and Poetry Translation Centre. Asha's poems can be found within this.

If you enjoy this recording and would like to find out more about Asha and all the other poets we've translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org.

Direct download: PP_Caasha_Disorientation_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:44am UTC

This week’s poem is 'Red Bicycle' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. This is the first in a set of new recordings we made of Azita reading her poems in October 2018 when she was in the UK to launch her new book 'Negative of A Group Photo' published by the PTC and Bloodaxe Books.

First, you can hear Azita tell us a bit about the poem and read the original text in Persian, then her poet-translator Maura Dooley will read her translation in English.

If you enjoyed this poem you can buy Azita's collection from the PTC website here: http://www.poetrytranslation.org/shop/negative-of-a-group-photograph

 

 

Direct download: AzitaRedBicycle.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:37am UTC

Our Poem Podcast this week is 'Album' by Reza Mohammadi from Afghanistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Dari by Reza himself.

In October 2018 we are celebrating the publication of 'Negative of a Group Photograph', a new collection of poetry by Farsi poet Azita Ghahreman, with a national tour. From the 6th to the 13th of October Azita will be Touring the UK. Reza Mohammadi will be joining her at SOAS for an evening of Persian Poetry this Friday on October 12.  

http://www.poetrytranslation.org/events/soas-an-evening-of-farsi-poetry-with-azita-ghahreman

 

 

Direct download: PP_Reza_Album2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:36am UTC

This week’s poem is 'Glaucoma' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. The poem is read first in English translation by Maura Dooley and then in Farsi by Azita.

In October 2018 we are celebrating the publication of 'Negative of a Group Photograph', a new collection of poetry by Farsi poet Azita Ghahreman, with an national tour and from the 6th to the 12th of October Azita will be Touring the UK. To find out where you can see Azita follow this link:

http://poetrytranslation.org/events/series/azita-ghahreman-tour-2018

 

 

Direct download: PP_Azita_Glaucoma_4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:55pm UTC

Poetry is an important part of Georgian literature, and dates back to the 4th century AD. The first known woman poets are Queen Borena and Queen Tamar, who reigned in medieval times.  Contemporary Georgian women’s poetry has its origins in the Soviet period, when a new form of free verse appeared.

Salome Benidze is a poet, writer, blogger and translator. She has been nominated for and has received many prestigious awards, and her poems have been translated into more than 10 languages. She writes both in a traditional poetry mode and in free verse.

Salome’s poems are a journey through the dramatic historical and social changes in Georgia’s recent history and her own experience of life and love. They are conveyed in a rich and romantic language, highly charged with passion and love. In some ways, her work is a call for women’s voices to be taken more seriously.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: Salome_Benidze_I_Wanted_to_Ask.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:31am UTC

A chilly poem: ‘Snow’ by the wonderful Iranian poet, Azita Ghahreman, who now lives in exile in snowy Sweden.

The seemingly endless snow is a metaphor for the hopelessness the poet feels – she and her lover are lost in its vastness. Only ‘a single stray earring’ can be seen – ‘not a tree, not a rabbit, not a star’.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Azita_Snow_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:39am UTC

'Neighbour!
You're like a fruit knife.
There's never a time
when you're not
at our dinner table.'

This poem is read first in English translation by Mimi Khalvati and then in Kurdish by the poet Choman Hardi.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Kajal_The_Fruit_Sellers_Philosophy_5.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am UTC

The prize-winning Moroccan poet, Abdellatif Laâbi, is widely acknowledged as being one of the most important poets writing today. Laâbi was born in Fez in 1942. He began writing in the mid-1960s, publishing his first novel in 1969. In 1966 he founded the renowned literary magazine Souffles, a journal of literature and politics that was to earn its editor an eight-year prison sentence (from 1972 to 1981) under the authoritarian reign of Hassan II. Once released from jail, Laâbi left Morocco in 1985 and has lived in Paris ever since.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: The_Earth_Opens_and_Welcomes_You__intro_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:56pm UTC

Diana Anphimiadi is a poet, publicist, linguist and teacher. Jean Sprackland was the poem's poet-translator. She commented that the poem is about more than a simple dance, it is an erotic poem. Jean also worked hard to maintain the 3/4 time of the original poem in her translation.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: Diana_Anphimiadi__Dance__Lessons_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:22am UTC

This week’s poem is by Partaw Naderi from Afghanistan.  The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Dari by Partaw Naderi. 

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Partaw_Beauty_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:50pm UTC

This week’s poem is 'Harmony' by Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf from Somalia/Somaliland.  The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Somali by Asha Lul. 

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Caasha_Harmony_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:33am UTC

Our poem podcast this week is 'The North Wind Whips' by Victor Teran from Mexico. The poem is read first in English translation by David Shook and then in Zapotec by Victor himself. If you would like to support PTC, please visit: http://www.poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Victor_The_North_Wind_Whips_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am UTC

This week’s poem is by Coral Bracho from Mexico.  The poem is read first in English translation by Katherine Pierpoint and then in Spanish by Coral. 

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Coral__The_Heart_of_Time_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:05pm UTC

This week’s poem is 'Drawing' by Reza Mohammadi from Afghanistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Nick Laird and then in Dari by Reza. If you enjoy this poem and would like to find out more about Reza Mohammadi and all the other poets we’ve translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Reza__Drawing_4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:50am UTC

This week's poem is 'Recollection' by the Somali poet Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf. The poem is read first in English translation by Clare Pollard and then in Somali by Caasha herself.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Caasha_Recollection_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:21am UTC

This week's poem is 'Letter' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. The poem is read first in English translation by Maura Dooley and then in Farsi by Azita herself. 

Azita will be touring the UK with October to promote her new collection Negative of a Group Photograph, published by The Poetry Translation Centre & Bloodaxe Books

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

 

 

Direct download: PP_Azita_Letter_4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:20am UTC

Salome Benidze’s poems often simultaneously address these hardships and changes, unprecedented since the Second World War. Her poem ‘The Story of Those Without Motherland’ conveys the pain of mass emigration in the form of a letter to a young man who has probably never known or experienced love for his homeland. He is the son of an emigrant and sees his parents’ country only through the eyes of the poet. The poet laments that not everything is as fine as it should be:

my motherland is a Venus fly trap

which eats us down to our skeletons

and spits out what it can’t digest

Nevertheless ‘the worst is death under a different flag’.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

 

Direct download: Salome_Benidze_The_Story_of_those_Wi.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:17am UTC

Diana Anphimiadi makes a use of the great Greek myths in her poetry, using these stories to get at her preoccupations as a poet. In Helen of Troy, the familiar story is reworked to talk about the Georgian nation's more recent experience of war, displacement and alienation.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: Diana_Anphimiadi__Helen_of_Troy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:41am UTC

This is the final poem in Salome Benidze’s chapbook ‘I wanted to ask you’, a lament which contains both prayer and secular invocation. In ‘My Soldier Husband’, a woman longs for her husband’s return from the war that has ravaged her country. Imploring him, and trying to console herself, the speaker describes a heightened sensitivity that might well describe Salome’s poetics:

When you’ve survived bullets and ghosts
the smell of cotton sheets is all the sweeter

Salome’s poems explore the dramatic historical and social changes of Georgia’s recent history, as they map out very personal stories of life and love. They are conveyed in a rich and Romantic language, and yet speak to the living moment. In its exemplary construction as well as its subject matter, her work is a call for women’s voices to be taken more seriously.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: Salome_Benidze_My_Soldier_Husband.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am UTC

Diana Anphimiadi quickly distinguished herself as an unusually imaginative, original talent in the Georgian poetry scene. Her work refuses the formulaic or expected response, wrong-footing readers with its wit and delicacy. In her acclaimed 2013 collection, Personal Cuisine, for instance she explores the traumatic experiences of recent years, yet the narrative unfolds as a patchwork of recipes, poems and stories.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

 

Direct download: Diana_Anphimiadi__Prayer_before_taki.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:31pm UTC

Salome Benidze is a poet, writer, blogger and translator. Her poetry has received many prestigious awards and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Born in 1986 in Kutaisi, Salome grew up during the turbulent decade of the 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed and many new countries emerged from its ruins. In Georgia these years were marked by civil war, a downturn in the economy, widespread corruption and rampant crime. As a consequence, a great number of people were forced to emigrate in order to earn their living. The majority of these migrants were women, many of whom had to leave their young children with relatives and live in exile from their homeland, often working abroad for decades in order to provide for their families.

 

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

 

 

Direct download: Salome_Benidze_The_Story_of_Flying.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:48am UTC

Diana Anphimiadi is a poet, publicist, linguist and teacher. This is the title poem of her PTC Chapbook 'Begining To Speak'. The poem concerns her Child, who has an Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning to speak late in childhood, as well as Diana's own return to writing poetry after a long break.

UK poet Jean Sprackland was the poem's poet-translator. She commented that like many of Diana's poems 'Autism Beginning to Speak' works on several levels, with both personal autobiographical interpretations, but also concerning the emergence of language more broadly.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: Diana_Anphimiadi_Autism_Beginning_to.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:34am UTC

This week's poem is 'Among These Ruins' by Coral Bracho from Mexico. The poem is read first in English translation by Katherine Pierpoint and then in Spanish by Coral Bracho.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PTC_Coral_Among_These_Ruins_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am UTC

This week's poem is 'Last Conversation with the Sky' by Noshi Gillani from Pakistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Lavinia Greenlaw and then in Urdu by Kamila Shamsie.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Noshi_Last_Conversation_with_the_Sky_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am UTC

This week's poem is 'Lucky Men' by Partaw Naderi from Afghanistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Dari by Partaw himself. 

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Partaw_Lucky_Men_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am UTC

This week’s poem is 'Forgotten by Time' by Farzaneh Khojandi from Tajikistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Jo Shapcott and then in Tajik by Farzaneh Khojandi.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Direct download: PTC_Farzaneh_Forgotten_by_Time_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:32am UTC

This poem by was translated ay at a PTC workshop run by our founder Sarah Maguire. In her translation notes, she ponders the origins of rhubarb as the distinctive plant gets referenced in the third line of the poem:

'We Brits tend to think of rhubarb as being a very distinctive British - especially Yorkshire - plant and so we were pleased to come across it the very different context of a poem by a Kurdish poet written when he was living in Moscow. (In fact, the plant originated in China and was brought to Britain during the fourteenth century via the Silk Route and was first known as 'Turkish Rhubarb'.)

This small poem is, of course, a wry reflection on the ancient culture of the Kurds who, although swindled and pushed from pillar to post for centuries, have not (yet) been accepted as a nation.'

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Direct download: A_Few_Lines_About_My_Age.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:06am UTC

This poem perfectly encapsulates his strengths as a poet: concision and clarity, delivered in language that is both exact and understated. Poems such as these which seem, at first glance, to be very simple, are extraordinarily difficult to pull off. Their ‘simplicity is, of course, deceptive: these few lines are like a miniature short story in the way they manage to convey the hope and despair of an entire life, in this case an Iranian economic migrant forced into back-breaking labour in Pakistan.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Direct download: Coming_Back_From_the_Hemp_Plantation.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:44am UTC

Karin Karakaşlı is an Armenian-Turkish poet who lives in Istanbul and writes in Turkish. As well as poetry she pens regular columns and opinion pieces for independent media outlets and writes fiction, non-fiction and children’s literature.

Her PTC Chapbook History-Geography was reviewed by Katrina Naomi who called it 'that rare thing - good, political poetry'.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: r_KARIN_KARAKASLI_HISTORY_GEOGRAPHY.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am UTC

Abdullah al Ryami was born in 1965 in Cairo, where his father had taken refuge from the British-backed suppression of the Omani uprising. As a result of this displacement, Al Ryami's life has been that of an outsider. His first collection of poems was published in 1992. He helped to found the avant-garde theatre group A'Shams, where he worked as dramatist and artistic director; and Najma Publications, which specialises in modern poetry, novels and works in translation; in 2000 he returned to Oman where he works as a theatrical director, journalist and cultural commentator.

 If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us
 

 

Direct download: Speed_-_Abdullah_al_Ryami.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:17am UTC

This week's poem is 'Far-Off Settlements' by Coral Bracho from Mexico. The poem is read first in English translation by Katherine Pierpoint and then in Spanish by Coral herself.

Coral Bracho came to England for the inaugural World Poets' Tour in 2005 and read with her poet-translator Katherine Pierpoint. The Guardian journalist Richar Lea asked Pierpoint how she has found the process of working with the PTC. 'She was quick to stress the help she had from Dr Tom Boll, who gave her literal translations of the Spanish originals. "This three-way process of working in a team has been particularly rewarding," she says, though she did sometimes have doubts about the project. "There are times when you ask yourself whether you're just translating the content of the poem and not the value."She sees the role of a translator as conveying the essence of an original. "It's Coral's party," she says, "you're just there as a channel." '

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: PP_Coral_Far_Off_Settlements_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:18am UTC

This week's poem podcast is 'Woman of Mint' by Fatena Al-Gharra, translated by Sara Vaghefian and Sarah Maguire, the founder of the PTC.

In her notes on the translation, Maguire commented 'Poetry in English is filled with poems that use plants to articulate gender. By and large, it's men poets who continually compare women to fragile, delicate flowers ... It's fascinating to witness a woman poet writing in Arabic using a 'feminine' mint plant and a 'masculine' nettle to express her feelings about gender.'

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: Woman_of_Mint.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:38am UTC

This week's poem is 'Rain' by Kajal Ahmad from Kurdistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Mimi Khalvati and then in Kurdish by Kajal Ahmad. If you enjoy this poem and would like to find out more about Kajal Ahmad and all the other poets we've translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org.

Direct download: PTC_Kajal_Rain_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:26am UTC

Listen to the 'Movements' by Fatena Al-Gharra, Translated from the Arabic by Anna Murison and the Poetry Translation Workshop.

The poem is read first in English by the poet-translator Sarah Maguire and then in Arabic by the poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: Movements.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:21pm UTC

Karin Karakaşlı is an Armenian-Turkish poet who lives in Istanbul and writes in Turkish. As well as poetry she pens regular columns and opinion pieces for independent media outlets and writes fiction, non-fiction and children’s literature. The deep pain and scars left by Turkey’s negationist state discourse on the Armenian genocide of 1915 are visible throughout Karakaşlı’s oeuvre and are omnipresent in her poetry. The Turkish state’s continual suppression of the forming of a common memory affects people not only of Armenian descent but from many communities such as the Greeks and the Kurds. This denial is an example of how, government after government, those in power in Turkey have consistently erased the history of whole parts of their population. It is in this context of past and present violations of basic rights, freedoms of expression and human dignity that Karin Karakaşlı seeks to exist with her poetry.

Canan Marasligil, from her introduction to Karin's Chapbook History-Geography

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: r_KARIN_KARAKASLI_DESERTED.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:19am UTC

The poem was originally one of the songs in the play Wadnahaan far ku hayaa but it became so overwhelmingly popular that, eventually, it completely overwhelmed performances of the play itself. As readers will discern, the reason for its popularity - and why it enraged the military dictatorship of the time - is because its vivid, skilful metaphors are open to a variety of interpretations. This poem, which led to Hadraawi's five-year imprisonment in Qansaxdheere, goes to the very heart of his genius.

WN Herbert, Poet-translator

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us
Direct download: The_Killing_of_the_She-Camel_by_Hadraawi_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:45pm UTC

Karin Karakaşlı’s pain can be deeply felt in most of her poems. However alongside this we encounter an enormous amount of love for the geography she lives in, especially the city of Istanbul. Karakaşlı has an almost synergetic relationship with this city, as we can see in this
poem ‘Galata’ – with the history embedded in every stone, every
building and every landscape.

The poem is about the poet's love of a medieval stone tower in Istanbul, Turkey.

If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Direct download: r_KARIN_KARAKASLI_GALATA.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:16pm UTC

Today's podcast poem is 'Aural ' by David Huerta from Mexico.  The poem is read first in English translation by Jamie McKendrick and then in Spanish by David. 

This week we are celebrating #MediaPoems on www.poetrytranslation.org.

If you would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

 

 

Direct download: PP_David__Aural_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:05am UTC

Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi

This week's poem is by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi from Sudan.  The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Arabic by Saddiq himself. If you enjoy this poem and would like to find out more about Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi and all the other poets we’ve translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org.

 

If you would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Direct download: PP_Saddiq_Siesta_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am UTC

This week's poem is 'Please bring a token home from each journey' by Noshi Gillani from Pakistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Lavinia Greenlaw and then in Urdu by Shamila Kamsie.

If you enjoyed this recording and would like to learn more about Noshi and all the other poets we've translated, please visit our website at www.poetrytranslation.org.

If you would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Direct download: PP_Noshi_Please_Bring_a_Token_Home_from_each_Journey_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:12am UTC

This week's poem is by Victor Teran from Mexico.  The poem is read first in English translation by David Shook and then in Zapotec by Victor himself. If you enjoy this recording and would like to find out more about Victor Teran and all the other poets we’ve translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org.

If you would like to support the Poetry Translation Centre please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Direct download: PP_Victor_Just_Yesterday__2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:50pm UTC