DUAL Poetry Podcast

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