Translation offers a new perspective on language and culture. At this unique Farsi poetry translation workshop, the group will start with a rough guide translation provided by Elhum Shakerifar, and work towards a translation that works as a poem in English, guided by experienced poet-facilitator Helen Bowell. The process invites endless insightful questions and encourages problem-solving and playfulness as everyone works together to understand and reassemble the poem in its new, translated form.

There is no need to know the language being translated. If you’re interested in poetry and language, simply come along and share your passion for words, writing and understanding. The group’s translation will be published on the Poetry Translation Centre website, joining an international archive of hundreds of poems.

This event is presented by the Poetry Translation Centre, the only UK organisation dedicated to translating, publishing and promoting contemporary poetry from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It’s part of a showcase weekend at the National Centre for Writing, kick-starting the Poetry Translation Centre’s 20th birthday year of celebrations. Collaborative poetry translation workshops are one of the Poetry Translation Centre’s first and flagship activities. It’s where we started, 20 years ago. Find out more about our exciting year-long line-up, upcoming publications, young people’s programme and online activity at poetrytranslation.org.

Elhum Shakerifar is a poet, essayist and translator, most recently PEN Award-winning, Warwick Prize-nominated Negative of a Group Photograph by Azita Ghahreman, translated alongside poet Maura Dooley (Bloodaxe Books, 2018). In 2022, she was one of Writerz & Scribez' inaugural poetry Griots and she was a Visible Communities resident at the National Centre for Writing in 2023. Elhum is also a BAFTA-nominated producer and curator working through her London-based company Hakawati ('storyteller' in Arabic). www.hakawati.co.uk

This event is supported by Arts Council England.