Modern Poetry in Translation

Parnassus, Series 3 No. 17

Edited by David Constantine, Helen Constantine

Modern Poetry in Translation is the official poetry magazine partner of Southbank Centre’s ‘Poetry Parnassus’ Festival (26th June – 1st July 2012), a part of Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World with MasterCard. This will be the largest ever gathering of poets from around the world. In our ‘Parnassus’ issue we have 17 of them, in translation, drawn from the 204 participating countries. Publishing them, as well as other poets from the sixth century BC to the present day, we offer our characteristic variety of voices, cultures and perspectives. Every issue of MPT is an anthology gathered across the frontiers of space and time, and ‘Parnassus’ is one we are particularly proud of.

Among the poets in ‘Parnassus’ are Pindar, Hölderlin, Li Bai, Cavafy, Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, Adel Guémar and Gerður Kristný. We have essays on poetic improvisation in Tuscany and Wales. And here you will also find the winning poems from our first Poetry Translation Competition.  First prize went to Ingar Palmlund for her beautiful translation of Tomas Tranströmer's Allegro.

‘Parnassus’ will be launched at 8pm on 27th June in Southbank Centre’s Saison Poetry Library, with readings by a number of our featured poets and translators. Admission is free but space is limited. To book, email specialedition@poetrylibrary.org.uk

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In Parnassus

Poetry and Features

Editorial David and Helen Constantine

Pindar ‘Victory Odes’, translated from the Ancient Greek by Cameron Hawke Smith

Pindar ‘Olympian XIV’, a version by David Constantine from Hölderlin’s translation into German 

Constantine Cavafy, four poems, translated from the Greek by Ian Parks

Li Bai, three poems, translated from the Chinese by Julian Farmer

Michael Mackmin, ‘My Sweet Redhead’, an imitation of Guillaume Apollinaire’s ‘La Jolie Rousse’ 

Umberto Saba, three football poems, versions from the Italian by Martin Bennett 

Mary-Ann Constantine, Canu Penillion: singing stanzas to the harp in Wales

Claudia Rosenzweig and Jennie Feldman, Improvising in ottava rima

Zoltán Zelk, ‘Congratulatory Rhyming Telegram’, translated from the Hungarian by John Ridland and Peter Czipott

Vladislav Khodasevich, three poems, translated from the Russian by Peter Daniels 

Dane Zajc, three poems, translated from the Slovene by Angus Reid 

Luis Rosales, from ‘The Trap-Net’, translated from the Spanish by Gonzalo Melchor

Kerry Featherstone, five poems from Ingrid Thobois’ novel Le Roi d’Afghanistan ne nous a pas mariés 

Lutz Seiler, five poems, translated from the German by Alexander Booth 

Stephen Watts, three poems after Tudor Arghezi

Anthony Rudolf, two extracts from Silent Conversations: A Reader’s Life

Poetry Parnassus

Anna Selby, Poetry Parnassus

Kārlis Vērdiņš, four poems, translated from the Latvian by Ieva Lešinska 

Kim Hyesoon, three poems, translated from the Korean by Don Mee Choi 

Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, seven poems, translated from the Arabic by Sarah Maguire and Atef Alshaer

Maya Sarishvili, five poems, translated from the Georgian by Timothy Kercher and Nene Giorgadze 

Évelyne Trouillot, ‘Tanpri’, translated from the Creole by the author and from the French by Lynn Selby 

Mbarka Mint al-Barra’ , ‘Poetry and I’, translated from the Arabic by Joel Mitchell and The Poetry Translation Centre Workshop

Gerður Kristný, thirteen poems translated from the Icelandic by Sigurður A. Magnússon and Victoria Cribb 

Anise Koltz, four poems, translated from the French by Anne-Marie Glasheen

Adel Guémar, ‘Eyes closed’, translated from the French by Tom Cheesman and John Goodby

Hadaa Sendoo, five poems, translated from the Mongolian by Richard Berengarten and the author

Razmik Davoyan, five poems, translated from the Armenian by Armine Tamrazian 

Abdullahi Botan, three poems, translated from the Somali by Rob Inglis 

Kristiina Ehin, three poems, translated from the Estonian by Ilmar Lehtpere

Immanuel Mifsud, two poems, translated from the Maltese by Maria Grech Ganado

Chen Li, ‘Dancers of Delphi’, translated from the Chinese by Chang Fen-ling 

Yuyutsu RD Sharma, five poems, translated from the Nepali by the author

Bewketu Seyoum, eight poems, translated from the Amharic by the author with Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje

The MPT Poetry Translation Competition  

Reviews

Janet Kofi-Tsekpo on Manx and several other tongues

Graham Good on Alfonso Gatto and Pierre-Albert Jourdan

Maria Jastrzębska on Norwid, Różewicz and six poets from Sopot 

Saradha Soobrayen, Further Reviews