DUAL Poetry Podcast

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.'

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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