Multilingual Poetry Translation workshop

Translation workshops can function as creative cross-cultural encounters for poets and festival visitors who between them may speak many languages. The workshop will focus on the intersection between writing and translating and is not intended for professional translators. Bridge translations into English, will be used, rather than direct translation. The participants do not need to be bilingual.

The participants will be asked to translate one or more of the poems into any language they master sufficiently. Alternatively they can rework the English bridge translations, get advice from native speakers about the original poems, and come to an English translation of their own.

The workshop aims to create an environment in which participants can learn about each other’s literary tradition and the context in which the works have been written. It also serves as an introduction to poetry translation as active engagement with the written text. Discussions around the work in progress will allow the group to explore the microcosm of each text, as well as the wider issues of translation practice.

Michele and Miek’s participation in West Cork Literary Festival is supported by the Nederlands Letterenfonds / Dutch Foundation for Literature as part of their New Dutch Writing programme.