Poetry in Translation

The art of translation as it relates to poetry is an intimate practice that varies from person to person, but still borrows certain precepts and common principles from other types of translation.

This event, created in collaboration between write4word, La Libélula Vaga, Red Door and Kultivera, gathers translators, authors and lovers of poetry in translation to dig deeper into the subject. What is the purpose of translation? Why is it important in our time? Contributing to the discussion: Jonas Ellerström, Elizabeth Torres, Bengt Berg, clare e potter, Maria E Blanco; moderated by Aleisa Ribalta Guzmán and Dominic Williams.

Bengt Berg was born and raised in Torsby, Sweden, in the forest and lake province of Varmland, near the Norwegian border and the 60th parallel, where he also lives and works. Bengt made his debut in 1974 with the poetry collection "Where the Dream Ends". He has written more than 30 books, mostly poetry. Poems by Bengt Berg have been translated into Nordic languages as well as Arabian, Hebrew, English, German, Dutch, Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Polish, Russian, Latvian, Vietnamese and Hindi. Since 1990 his publishing house Heidruns Forlag, has published 135 works -novels, books of poetry and art, translations of other works and reference books.

Clare E. Potter is a Welsh speaking writer and performer who studied an MA in Afro-Caribbean literature in Mississippi and taught in New Orleans for a decade. Awards include two Literature Wales writing bursaries, the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry, and the Jim Criddle prize for celebrating the Welsh language. spilling histories (Cinnamon Press, 2006) will be followed by A Certain Darkness. clare has translated for the National Poet of Wales, was a Hay Festival Writer at Work, enjoys facilitating community projects and collaborating with jazz musicians. She’s currently researching the creative process for Threshold, a new poetry collection thanks to a Literature Wales bursary.

Elizabeth Torres (Madam Neverstop) is a Colombian poet, multimedia artist, translator and speaker. Elizabeth resides in Copenhagen, where she works as a writer and translator, edits and published the Red Door magazine and curates the Red Door Gallery. She is host to the Red Transmissions Podcast, as well as project coordinator for other initiatives in Europe and abroad. 'Det usynlige sår/La herida invisible' (The invisible wound), a selection of her poetry was translated to Danish by Malene Boeck Thorborg and released by Det Poetiske Bureaus Forslag in November, 2019. Previous to that, 'En las Fauces del Olvido' (In the Jaws of Oblivion) was published in Puerto Rico by La Impresora, and then launched in Mexico and Guatemala, with additional presentations in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Denmark during 2017. The ways of the Firefly (German / English) (2020) Would You Like to Come Home? (German/English) (2021)

Jonas Ellerström is an author, translator and publisher. He has most recently published 'Under tidens yta. En annorlunda svensk poesihistoria' (ellerströms, 2014)/A different Swedish poetry history (ellerströms, 2014) and Homesickness from the world. Essays on poetry/Hemlängtan ur världen. Essäer om poesi (Ariel, 2015). He regularly participates in Lyrikvännen and has translated poetry by, among others, Arthur Rimbaud, T S Eliot, William Blake, Richard Brautigan, Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood and Janet Frame.

Maria Elena Blanco is a Cuban poet, essayist and translator. Besides her activity as literature researcher, lecturer and critic, she has worked as U.N. translator since 1983, presently freelance. Poetry translator from English, French, Italian and German. Poetry: 'Posesión por pérdida' (1990), 'Alquímica memoria' (2001), 'Mitologuías. Homenaje a Matta' (2001), 'danubiomediterráneo /mittelmeerdonau' (2005), 'El amor incontable' (2008), 'Sobresalto al vacío' (2015) and several poetry anthologies. Essays: 'Asedios al texto literario' (literary analysis,1999) and 'Devoraciones. Ensayos de período especial' (Cuban culture and politics, 2016). Lives mainly in Vienna with seasonal stays in Chile.