Summer Workshops at The Albany
Join the PTC in The Albany, Deptford this Summer for a new season of in-person workshops translating from Vietnamese, Spanish, Hebrew & Arabic poetry.
Poetry Translation Centre homepage
Introduction
The Poetry Translation Centre gives the best contemporary poems from Africa, Asia and Latin America a new life in the English language, working with diaspora communities for whom poetry is of great importance.
Top Featured
My drug of choice: On editing 'I Will Not Fold These Maps'
Associate editor of Mona Kareem's 'I Will Not Fold These Maps' (tr. Sara Elkamel) writes of the process of editing this powerful collection.
Announcing our new World Poet Series titles!
The Poetry Translation Centre is thrilled to announce the next titles in our World Poet Series, by poets Mona Kareem and Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, and translators Sara Elkamel, Bryar Bajalan and Shook!
Featured
Translate Hebrew poetry by Batsheva Dori with Micha Myers
Batsheva Dori writes poetry about family and relationships. Join us to translate her work with the translator Micha Meyers.
Translate Spanish poetry from Nicaragua by Carola Brantome with Helen Dixon
Join activist, academic, poet and translator Helen Dixon to translate Carola Brantome, an award-winning feminist poet from Nicaragua.
Translating Arabic poetry by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi with Bajalan and Shook
Translating lyric poems of exile and connection by Sudanses poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi with his translators Bajalan and Shook.
Mona Kareem and Sara Elkamel at Shubbak Festival
Bilingual readings of I Will Not Fold These Maps by Mona Kareem, her translator Sara Elkamel and editor Nashwa Nasreldin for Shubbak Festival at the British Library.
A Friend’s Kitchen - an intimate stroll with Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi and friends
The PTC and Shubbak Festival present an intimate stroll with Sudanese poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi as he recites poetry from Queensway underground to the site of what was until recently the Saqi Bookshop, a landmark of…
A Celebration of Poetry and Translation at Ledbury
Join Mona Kareem and Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi with their translators for a morning of moving dual-language readings and in-depth exploration of their work at Ledbury Poetry Festival.
Interview with Mona Kareem on 'I Will Not Fold These Maps'
Poet, critic and reviewer Reem Abbas interviews Mona Kareem on her upcoming World Poet Series title I Will Not Fold These Maps (tr. Sara Elkamel).
Featured Poem
He Tells Tales of Meroe
As if his croak sounds from stone itselfAs if his voice in darkness is stained with the timbre of eternityWhen I first saw him alone, lost in thought,poised behind glass,I…كأنَّما يروي عن مروي
كأنَّما صوت نقيفه يطلعُ من كسوتِه الحجريةْكأنَّما طبقات صوتِه تتلوَّنُ في الظلمةِ مغسولةً في طبقاتِ الأبديةْحينما رأيتُه ساهياً ووحيداًفي "فترينة" المتحفِتذكرتُ نطفتَه الأولى مختلطةً بطينتِه الأمِّكان يقنصُ الفرائسَ باللُّعابِيموِّه مفترسيه باللّون وأحابيلَ أخرىيستيقظُ مثل أقرانه مِنْ سُباته الموسميّْلموسم التزاوج الجديدْقبل أن يصبح أثراً غامضاً خلف الزجاجْكأنَّما يروي عن مرويشاهداً على غروبها مرةً ومرة على شموخِ مجدها ..كأنَّه في سُباته الأخيرِ يتأهبُ ثانيةًللحياة بلباسٍ وتاجٍ جديدْ - بلسانٍ جديدْ.
He Tells Tales of Meroe
Original poem by
Translated by
with