Dual Poetry Podcast

Translated by Sarah Maguire and Atef Alshaer In this poem, Sudanese poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi captured the deep-seated antipathy of the late night bartender ‘Nursing a drink that bores him’ translated by Atef Alshaer and Sarah Maguire. If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us.

Translated by Lucy Rosenstein and Bernard O'Donoghue This week’s poem is by Mohan Rana from India. The poem is read first in English translation by Bernard O'Donoghue and then in Hindi by Mohan Rana. The poet and critic, Nandkishore Acharya, has written that 'Amongst the new generation of Hindi poets, the poetry of Mohan Rana stands alone; it defies any categorisation.'

Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf‘s poem 'The Scab' is a passionate critique of the caste system, a 'belief in the noble gob and the lower caste gun.' Asha’s Friend and longtime translator Clare Pollard will read the English translation. Then you will hear Asha read in the original Somali Last year Asha Lul's collection The Sea-Migrations was named the Poetry Book of the Year by The Sunday Times. If you woul...

Translated by Jean Sprackland and Natalia Bukia-Peters Diana Anphimiadi is a poet, publicist, linguist and teacher. Jean Sprackland was the poem's poet-translator. This is a synesthetic poem, where the senses are confused, it reaches for a language beyond words, perhaps a language between two lovers. The poet-translator Jean Sprackland noted that in Georgian the word for 'Braille' is close to the...

Translated by Maura Dooley with Elhum Shakerifar This week’s poem is 'Crow’s Final Frontier' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. This is from a set of new recordings we made of Azita reading her poems in October 2018 when she was in the UK to launch her new book 'Negative of A Group Photo' published by the PTC and Bloodaxe Books. First, you can hear Azita tell us a bit about the poem and read the origin...

This week’s poem is by 'Gaarriye' from Somalia and has been translated by WN Herbert and Martin Orwin. The poem is read first in English translation by Martin Orwin and then in Somali by 'Gaarriye'. If you enjoy this recording and would like to find out more about 'Gaariye' and all the other poets we’ve translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org You can find this poem and more...

Translated by Sarah Maguire and Maxamed Hasan 'Alto' This week's poem is by the Somali poet Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi. The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Somali by Jaamac himself. If you enjoy this recording and would like to find out more about Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi and all the other poets we’ve translated, please visit our website www.poetrytranslation.org. This m...

Translated by Maura Dooley and Elhum Shakerifar This week’s poem is 'Night Demon' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. This is from a set of new recordings we made of Azita reading her poems in October 2018 when she was in the UK to launch her new book 'Negative of A Group Photo' published by the PTC and Bloodaxe Books. First, you can hear Azita tell us a bit about the poem and read the original text in...

This week's poem is by Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf. The poem is read first in English translation by Clare Pollard and then in Somali by Asha herself. UK poet Claire Pollard worked with bridge-translator Maxamed Xasan 'Alto' to translate this poem from Somali. This month we are celebrating the launch of the anthology, 'So At One With You', an anthology of modern poetry in Somali produced in collaborati...

This week’s poem is 'Red Bicycle' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. This is the first in a set of new recordings we made of Azita reading her poems in October 2018 when she was in the UK to launch her new book 'Negative of A Group Photo' published by the PTC and Bloodaxe Books. First, you can hear Azita tell us a bit about the poem and read the original text in Persian, then her poet-translator Maura...

Our Poem Podcast this week is 'Album' by Reza Mohammadi from Afghanistan. Translated by The Poetry Translation Workshop and Hamid Kabir. The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Dari by Reza himself. In October 2018 we are celebrating the publication of 'Negative of a Group Photograph', a new collection of poetry by Farsi poet Azita Ghahreman, with a national tour...

Translated by Maura Dooley and Elhum Shakerifar This week’s poem is 'Glaucoma' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. The poem is read first in English translation by Maura Dooley and then in Farsi by Azita. In October 2018 we are celebrating the publication of 'Negative of a Group Photograph', a new collection of poetry by Farsi poet Azita Ghahreman, with an national tour and from the 6th to the 12th of O...

Poetry is an important part of Georgian literature, and dates back to the 4th century AD. The first known woman poets are Queen Borena and Queen Tamar, who reigned in medieval times. Contemporary Georgian women’s poetry has its origins in the Soviet period, when a new form of free verse appeared. Salome Benidze is a poet, writer, blogger and translator. She has been nominated for and has received...

Translated by Maura Dooley and Elhum Shakerifar A chilly poem, ‘Snow’ by the wonderful Iranian poet, Azita Ghahreman, who now lives in exile in snowy Sweden. The seemingly endless snow is a metaphor for the hopelessness the poet feels – she and her lover are lost in its vastness. Only ‘a single stray earring’ can be seen – ‘not a tree, not a rabbit, not a star’. If you enjoy this podcast and would...

Translated by Andre Naffis-Sahely This week’s poem is by Abdellatif Laabi from Morocco. The poem is read first in English translation by Andre Naffis-Sahely and then in French by Abdellatif.

Translated by Jean Sprackland and Natalia Bukia-Peters Diana Anphimiadi is a poet, publicist, linguist and teacher. Jean Sprackland was the poem's poet-translator. She commented that the poem is about more than a simple dance, it is an erotic poem. Jean also worked hard to maintain the 3/4 time of the original poem in her translation. If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of...

Translated by Sarah Maguire and Maxamed Xasan 'Alto'. This week’s poem is 'Harmony' by Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf from Somalia/Somaliland.  The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Somali by Asha Lul.

Translated by Clare Pollard and Said Jama Hussein. This week's poem is 'Recollection' by the Somali poet Asha Luul Mohamud Yusuf. The poem is read first in English translation by Clare Pollard and then in Somali by Caasha herself.

Translated by Maura Dooley and Elhum Shakerifar This week's poem is 'Letter' by Azita Ghahreman from Iran. The poem is read first in English translation by Maura Dooley and then in Farsi by Azita herself. Azita will be touring the UK with October to promote her new collection Negative of a Group Photograph, published by The Poetry Translation Centre & Bloodaxe Books If you enjoy this podcast and w...

Salome Benidze’s poems often simultaneously address these hardships and changes, unprecedented since the Second World War. Her poem ‘The Story of Those Without Motherland’ conveys the pain of mass emigration in the form of a letter to a young man who has probably never known or experienced love for his homeland. He is the son of an emigrant and sees his parents’ country only through the eyes of th...

Translated by Jean Sprackland and Natalia Bukia-Peters Diana Anphimiadi makes a use of the great Greek myths in her poetry, using these stories to get at her preoccupations as a poet. In Helen of Troy, the familiar story is reworked to talk about the Georgian nation's more recent experience of war, displacement and alienation.

Translated by Natalia Bukia-Peters and Helen Mort This is the final poem in Salome Benidze’s chapbook ‘I wanted to ask you’, a lament which contains both prayer and secular invocation. In ‘My Soldier Husband’, a woman longs for her husband’s return from the war that has ravaged her country. Imploring him, and trying to console herself, the speaker describes a heightened sensitivity that might well...

Translates by Jean Sprackland and Natalia Bukia-Peters Diana Anphimiadi quickly distinguished herself as an unusually imaginative, original talent in the Georgian poetry scene. Her work refuses the formulaic or expected response, wrong-footing readers with its wit and delicacy. In her acclaimed 2013 collection, Personal Cuisine, for instance she explores the traumatic experiences of recent years,...

Translated by Natalia Bukia-Peters and Helen Mort If you enjoy this podcast and would like to support the work of the Poetry Translation Centre then please visit poetrytranslation.org/support-us

Translated by Jean Sprackland and Natalia Bukia-Peters Diana Anphimiadi is a poet, publicist, linguist and teacher. This is the title poem of her PTC Chapbook 'Begining To Speak'. The poem concerns her Child, who has an Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning to speak late in childhood, as well as Diana's own return to writing poetry after a long break. UK poet Jean Sprackland was the poem's poet-trans...