The Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation 2020

in association with The Stephen Spender Prize 2020 for poetry in translation in association with The Guardian

Winners and commended

14-and-under Commended Vishal Saha ‘When we were kids’ by Mario Benedetti (Uruguayan Spanish) Maddie Stoll ‘Hope’ First Second Third by Ai Qing (Chinese) Hannah Kripa Jordan Grace Wu Caroline-Olivia Edwards Omar Ullah ‘And Yet – Our Tamil Life’ ‘muse of the moon’ ‘Versos Sencillos, Verso III’ ‘Lest they say something’ by Manushya Puthiran by Li Bai by José Martí by Kamini Roy (Bangla) (Tamil) (Chinese) (Cuban Spanish)

16-and-under Commended Matilda Stepek ‘Passions of a Ghostly Fury’ by Ovid (Latin) Gabriela O’Keeffe ‘Tears for America’ (extract) by Michael Davitt (Irish) First Second Third Megan Turtle Alessandro d’Attanasio Alice Garcia Kalmus ‘Do not leave your room’ ‘Saturday in the village’ ‘I write against an open window’ by Joseph Brodsky by Giacomo Leopardi by Mario Quintana (Russian) (Italian) (Brazilian Portuguese)

18-and-under Commended Vassil Gilbert ‘A short summer night’ by Yosa Buson (Japanese)

Jasper Maughan ‘Stay’ by Rainald Simon (German) First Second Third Maryam Zaidi Olivia Flint Isobel Birkeland Cosima Deetman ‘The Lemons’ ‘The Schoolchildren’ ‘Writing rhymes with ‘Cyber Insomnia’ by Eugenio Montale by Pedro Serrano Sir Ishii’ by Martin Piekar (German) (Italian) (Mexican Spanish) by Qiu Jin (Chinese)

Open Commended Oliver Fallon ‘Conception of a New God’ (verses 1.33-47) by Kālidāsa (Sanskrit) Peter Frankopan ‘The Night of the Falling Apples’ First Second Third by Bella Akhmadulina (Russian) Marta Ciechanowicz Ben Fergusson Stuart Lyons Christopher MacDonald ‘The Joy of Writing’ ‘dust’ ‘Wild West Cambridge ‘Twelve Todays’ by Wisława Szymborska by Nadja Küchenmeister at Dusk’ by Temu Suyan (Taiwanese Mandarin) by Xu Zhimo (Chinese) (Polish) (German) First-time entrant commendations

Fiona Garratt Lorna Amor Mark Grainger ‘Colours’ ‘The one who speaks’ ‘The Evolution of Mankind’ by Cécile Coulon by Ling Yu by Erich Kästner (French) (Taiwanese Mandarin) (German)

Polish Spotlight 10-and-under winners and commended

winner Commended Aaron Ferguson Maximilian Hempler ‘From dog to dog flea bobs’ ‘A sawfish’ by Zbigniew Machej by Łukasz Dębski

14-and-under

Winner Commended Alexander Fletcher Michaela Konkolewska-Grybė ‘Opposing Winds’ ‘Tea Party’ by Tomasz Różycki by Agnieszka Frączek

18-and-under

Winner Commended Commended Hanna Kisiala Skye Slatcher Patrick Lynch ‘Homecoming’ ‘And that’s why’ ‘A song about the end of the world’ by Bronisław Maj by Adam Zagajewski by Czesław Miłosz

1 Introduction to the Stephen Spender Prize 2020

was always set to be a year of change for the especially grateful to our judges Khairani Barokka, Mary 2020 Stephen Spender Prize. We aimed to diversify Jean Chan, Daljit Nagra and Antonia Lloyd-Jones for a lively the languages represented and to increase entries from young and warm judging process, to our new prize coordinator people and emerging translators. To that end, we planned Jamie Lee Searle, to SST’s trustees and patrons, and to two new categories (16-and-under and first-time entrants), the prize’s funders the Rothschild Foundation, Polonsky booklets of suggested poems in multiple languages, and a Foundation, Old Possum’s Practical Trust, Sackler Trust, guide for new translators. But we could not have anticipated and Redcase Ltd. the real change that the prize underwent this year, as it We received a record number of entries this year, tangible adapted to life amidst a pandemic. Thanks to the support proof that poetry can sustain and inspire through difficult of our remarkable community of translators and poets, and times. This was particularly marked in the youth categories, new funding from Arts Council England, we were able to with more than double last year’s figure, and in the 80 transform the prize into a virtual programme that brought languages represented across all categories. The thirty-three the joy of poetry translation to isolated young people and translators and seventeen languages in these pages reflect the adults. Through video masterclasses and live illustration, vitality and diversity of those entries, and we’re delighted remote workshops and lesson plans, we beamed international to be able to award more prizes than ever before. We hope poetry into virtual classrooms and into homes, ensuring that that, just as for those working on their prize entries during this border-crossing, collaborative activity could be shared spring and summer 2020, this booklet enables readers to travel by as many people as possible during lockdown. vicariously to new lands and to hear new voices. Translators and poets from across the world were hugely generous with their time and advice, sharing ideas and Charlotte Ryland contributing texts to be included in our resources. I’m Director of the Stephen Spender Trust

Outstanding Teachers 2020

he large numbers of youth entries teachers and schools this year are: in the open category have been T this year are due in particular to Nadia Siddiqui generously donated by Faber & Faber the encouragement and commitment of The Westgate School, Slough and Nine Arches Press. teachers across the UK, who went out The teachers were also invited to Sabine Pichout and colleagues of their way during school closures to nominate students to participate in a Swavesey Village College, enable and encourage their students to workshop for this year’s youth winners Cambridgeshire enter the prize. and commendees, which we ran for the This year we are delighted to intro- Kilda Giraudon and colleagues first time this year. We’re grateful to duce a new set of awards, to recognise Colyton Grammar School, Devon SST patron Kate Clanchy, who gave a teachers who show particular commit- Book prizes for these teachers and for workshop on multilingual poetry for ment to the prize. Our outstanding our first-time-entrant commendations the young translators.

2 Judges’ commentary – Khairani Barokka

It was a treat to read the have a special category commending Alessandro d’Attanasio wins second entries for this year’s first-time entrants. This year, those for Giacomo Leopardi’s ‘Saturday Stephen Spender Prize. commendations go to Fiona Garratt in the village’ (Italian), sensitively There was a significant for Cécile Coulon’s ‘Colours’ (French), conjuring up ‘a day full of joy’, and increase in submissions Lorna Amor for Ling Yu’s ‘The one Alice Garcia Kalmus takes third for from last year, and this who speaks’ (Taiwanese Mandarin), Mario Quintana’s ‘I write against an is a remarkable achievement for each and Mark Grainger for Erich Kästner’s open window’ (Brazilian Portuguese), entrant, considering the pandemic. We ‘The Evolution of Mankind’ (German), jarring us with the ‘thought of light sincerely thank all of you who took the all of which showed sensitivity for fingers paint­ing me!’. Commendations time to create, to submit, to submerge in ‘each subtle nuance’ (to quote Garratt’s go to Gabriela O’Keeffe’s translation of so many languages. We present to you translation), remarkable for it being an extract from Michael Davitt’s ‘Tears poems that moved and delighted us. their first attempts. for America’ (Irish), and Matilda Stepek In the open category, we celebrate In the 18-and-under category, we for Ovid’s ‘Passions of a Ghostly Fury’ first prize winner ‘Wild West Cambridge were uplifted by ‘the golden trumpets of (Latin), both passionate odes on politics At Dusk’ for its creative idiosyncrasies, sunlight’ in Maryam Zaidi’s translation and war. Stuart Lyons playfully presenting Xu of Eugenio Montale’s ‘The Lemons’ Finally, in the 14-and-under Zhimo’s charming descriptions of ‘lush (Italian), taken by how ‘the chain category, Hannah Kripa Jordan wins lush dense dense shagginess’, of sky unravels, takes flight, re-joins’ in Olivia first prize for the boisterous, charming as ‘mixed-star mosaic’. Then we have Flint’s translation of Pedro Serrano’s ‘And Yet – Our Tamil Life’ (Tamil) Marta Ciechanowicz’s translation of ‘The Schoolchildren’ (Mexican by Manushya Puthiran, followed by Wisława Szymborska’s ‘The Joy of Spanish), and felt deeply for Qiu Jin’s Grace Wu’s translation of Li Bai’s ‘muse Writing’, a journey of gratitude for the inner monologue as both ‘solitary sail- of the moon’ (Chinese), successfully written word, keenly translated from boat’ and ‘heroic’, in Isobel Birkeland’s conveying a self-avowed ‘mystical and Polish. In third place, Ben Fergusson’s translation of ‘Writing rhymes with ethereal atmosphere’, and third goes to translation from German of Nadja Sir Ishii’ (Chinese). Our commended Caroline-Olivia Edwards’ translation Küchenmeister’s ‘dust’, evoking ‘fever entries are all skilful: Vassil Gilbert for of Cuban poet José Martí’s ‘Versos feelings’ through intense sensorial Yosa Buson’s ‘A short summer night’ Sencillos, Verso III’, in which ‘the air description. The commended entries (Japanese), Jasper Maughan for Rainald sings and romps’. Commended are are Oliver Fallon for his translation Simon’s ‘Stay’ (German), and Cosima Vishal Saha, Maddie Stoll, and Omar from Sanskrit of Kālidāsa’s ‘Conception Deetman for Martin Piekar’s ‘Cyber Ullah, for Mario Benedetti’s ‘When we of a New God’ (verses 1.33–47), Peter Insomnia’ (German). were kids’ (Uruguayan Spanish), Ai Frankopan for Bella Akhmadulina’s For the 16-and-under category, Qing’s ‘Hope’ (Chinese), and Kamini ‘The Night of the Falling Apples’ Megan Turtle’s strong translation Roy’s ‘Lest they say something’ (Russian), and Christopher from Russian of Joseph Brodsky’s (Bangla), respectively – all containing MacDonald for Temu Suyan’s ‘Twelve ‘Do not leave your room’ – in which profundity in deceptively simple Todays’ (Taiwanese Mandarin), each ‘Outside nothing makes sense, language. resonant and considered. We also happiness included’ – wins first prize. Khairani Barokka

3 Judges’ commentary – Mary Jean Chan

As a recurring judge silent, / you hear the hammer striking, of ‘A short summer night’ (Japanese), for the Stephen Spender you hear the saw / of the woodworker’. Jasper Maughan’s translation of ‘Stay’ Prize, I can safely say Mario Quintana’s ‘I write against an (German) and Cosima Deetman’s trans- that the judges were open window’ is third, translated from lation of ‘Cyber Insomnia’ (German), once again treated to Brazilian Portuguese by Alice Garcia which stood out to the judges for their submissions of the Kalmus. Despite its short length, the evocative imagery and clarity of voice. highest quality from across our transla- poem evokes the wonder of creating Last but not least, the open category tion categories this year. The inaugural art as one oscillates between inspira- once again proved to be the most commendations for first-time entrants tion and daydream: ‘Flashes of light varied and challenging for the judges in the open category also allows us to dancing on the leaves! / I almost forgot to agree upon. After much delibera- celebrate translators who have submit- what I was going to write / But why tion, we found ourselves returning to ted to the Stephen Spender Prize for would I bother? / I also come from this Xu Zhimo’s ‘Wild West Cambridge the first time. The judges agreed that landscape / I keep daydreaming’. Our at Dusk’, translated by Stuart Lyons. the Tamil poem ‘And Yet – Our Tamil commended poems go to ‘Passions of We were enamoured of the playfulness Life’ by Manushya Puthiran was a a Ghostly Fury’ by Ovid, translated and irreverence of this translation, worthy winner of the 14-and-under by Matilda Stepek from Latin, and an particularly in terms of the transla- category, a poem full of wisdom for our extract from Michael Davitt’s excori- tor’s use of syntax throughout, which difficult times, thoughtfully translated ating ‘Tears for America’, translated allows the English version to take on a by Hannah Kripa Jordan. Second place by Gabriela O’Keeffe, both of which life of its own with lines such as these: goes to the ‘muse of the moon’ by Li Bai, captured the judges’ attention. ‘braving cloud-billows cloud-tides / translated by Grace Wu, who expertly In the 18-and-under category, we pip-pip pitter-patter afloat / in a blink expressed this classical Chinese poem in selected Maryam Zaidi’s translation the dusk-blaze subsides / see you later a fresh and vivid manner in English. In from Italian of ‘The Lemons’ by the mate’. In second place, we were drawn third place, we chose the Cuban Spanish poet Eugenio Montale as our unanimous to Wisława Szymborska’s ‘The Joy poem ‘Versos Sencillos, Verso III’ by winner for its lyric sensibility and ability of Writing’ for its lush metaphors, José Martí, with its crystalline imagery to inspire hope through an appreciation expertly translated from Polish by translated wonderfully by Caroline- of nature’s bounty: ‘among the trees of Marta Ciechanowicz: ‘The written Olivia Edwards. Our commendations go a courtyard / we catch a glimpse of the doe. Where is she running through to Vishal Saha for ‘When we were kids’ yellow lemons; / and the frost in our the written wood?’ In third place, we (Uruguayan Spanish), Maddie Stoll for hearts thaws, / and into our chests pour chose Nadja Küchenmeister’s ‘dust’, ‘Hope’ (Chinese) and Omar Ullah for / their songs – / the golden trumpets translated by Ben Fergusson, for its ‘Lest they say something’ (Bangla), as of sunlight.’ In second place, we chose atmospheric quality and ability to these poems felt expansive and moving Pedro Serrano’s ‘The Schoolchildren’, a lightly convey deep-seated emotions: in multiple ways. poem translated from Mexican Spanish ‘fever feelings. the wood softly cracks. In the 16-and-under category, the by Olivia Flint with tenderness and / only a wasp pounding the window. judges selected Megan Turtle’s transla- clarity, evoking the lovely image of outside the pine / trees rock.’ tion of ‘Do not leave your room’ by a group of schoolchildren relishing In terms of our first-time entrants the Russian-American poet Joseph one another’s company: ‘It is strange / in the open category, the judges Brodsky as our winner, as it speaks this way of melding, of becoming one chose as our winner Cécile Coulon’s directly to our current predicament being. / As if they do not know who ‘Colours’ translated by Fiona Garratt amidst COVID-19, with its clever use they are without following. / They seek from French, as we were impressed of biting satire expertly translated into each other, reach each other, become by its vivid lines: ‘deaths and births, / English: ‘Stay home for furniture will entangled.’ In third place is ‘Writing twisting above / neighbouring houses keep you company. / Practice wall- rhymes with Sir Ishii’ by the Chinese / the bolt of storms, / floating over paper fusion. Barricade the door to revolutionary feminist writer Qiu Jin, rooftops fortified / with bees and mice’. protect us / from Chronos, Cosmos, translated by Isobel Birkeland with In second place, we picked Ling Yu’s Eros, the Virus.’ In second place, we panache: ‘Ashamed, I have sweated ‘The one who speaks’, translated from chose Giacomo Leopardi’s ‘Saturday my warhorse, yet achieved nothing. / Taiwanese Mandarin by Lorna Amor, in the village’, tenderly translated from Grieving over my homeland fills me for its deep sense of place and appre- the Italian by Alessandro d’Attanasio, with regret, / How can I spend my days ciation of the landscape of Taiwan. In who evokes rural village scenes with here? / A guest, enduring your pleas- third place, we picked Erich Kästner’s striking imagery: ‘Then when every ant spring breezes.’ Our commended ‘The Evolution of Mankind’, translated other light is quenched, / and all else is poems were Vassil Gilbert’s translation from German by Mark Grainger, for

4 its futuristic vision and satirical tone: New God’ (verses 1.33-47) translated translated by Christopher MacDonald. ‘They travel wide. They’ve mastered the from Sanskrit by Oliver Fallon, Bella Congratulations to all our winners car. / They’ve built an orbital station. / Akhmadulina’s ‘The Night of the and commended translators. It has been They brush their teeth. They’ve con- Falling Apples’ (Russian) translated a true joy to read your tremendous work. quered tartar.’ Our overall commenda- by Peter Frankopan, and Temu Suyan’s tions go to Kālidāsa’s ‘Conception of a ‘Twelve Todays’ (Taiwanese Mandarin) Mary Jean Chan

Judges’ commentary – Daljit Nagra

Having judged many the Joycean influence on the original. a highly skilled translator at work; prizes over the past I also enjoyed the second prize poem similarly, ‘The Schoolchildren’ was able two decades, I have to almost as much as the winner, but alas to delay the true impact of the story say, and without any it just missed out. The clean syntax and through the deployment of syntax and detriment to any other lineation of this poem captured the run-on lines. competition, that this stark simplicity of the surface, drawing In the 16-and-under category, the has been the most enjoyable to judge. us into the complex thoughts of the second prize-winner, with ‘Do not Entries varied from adults to children, poem, the feeling that art can hold us, leave your room’ shows a translator able and translated poems were either classic momentarily, in a place of safety. The to find a poem that is apt for the times; poems that I have loved for years, or many strengths of our third prize poem, it is written simply, yet with verve, and classic and contemporary poems that ‘dust’, included the exquisite precision conveys the fear of going outside as were unfamiliar to me. In several cases, of the details which sit beautifully institutions and ideals collapse. the names of translated poets were new against the voice of controlled despair; In the 14-and-under category, I was to me, and I found myself repeatedly the explanation of the compound nouns delighted that a poem translated from searching for the exciting poets online in the commentary was also helpful in Tamil became our winner, especially and ordering their books where they explaining key decisions. as this indicates the wide range of had already been translated. There were several first-time languages our winning entries came This is one way of saying that the entrants, and many showed great skill from. ‘And Yet - Our Tamil Life’ poetry submissions were of an excep- at capturing the tones of the original. is both funny and moving, and the tionally high standard. I came across Our three first-time entrant commen- translator’s commentary was also an many translations that felt as though dations were very different: ‘Colours’ enjoyable read. In its original Chinese, they had, always and only, been written had a dreamy quality that held back ‘muse of the moon’ is visually simple in English, such was the quality of the the terrors of the mind; ‘The one who on the page, but the translator has translators’ way of transforming poems speaks’ was a beautifully quiet poem played havoc with the lineation to from one language into another. about loss; while ‘The Evolution of create a fresh and dynamic poem in In the open category, there were Mankind’ was a confidently rhymed English. ‘Versos Sencillos, Verso III’ many superb translations that missed poem that humorously captured our was our third prize in the 14-and-under out. Our winning poem justified beleaguered state of being. category, and I enjoyed the restraint of its place because of its lively mix of There were many impressive entries the lines as they developed the mood of language that dramatized a scene at in the 18-and-under category, espe- hope cast against despair. Cambridge with linguistic vigour; the cially the energised and grammatically commentary was helpful in explaining exciting ‘The Lemons’, which showed Daljit Nagra

5 First prize, 14-and-under category

And Yet – Our And Yet – Our Tamil Life

These doorbells – Does it matter they don’t ring? And yet – None of my visitors Have gone without today’s gossip.

The bathroom latch is broken, so what? A year and a half has gone by. And yet – No one’s privacy has been invaded, No daydreams interrupted.

The chair may have a broken leg, Its balance a little rocky. And yet – To the startled guest, Not a hint of disrespect.

For more than a week now, My car brakes have been failing. And yet – God keeps watch on the city. Still I return home, In one full piece.

I suffer a pain in my belly, But what can I do? Nowadays it returns frequently. Manushya Puthiran And yet – If I recline at a certain angle, Reproduced by kind permission of the poet I can just about bear the pain.

Predicaments may be endless In most parts of our life, And yet – Tamil life is plain sailing, A thread without knots.

Translated from Tamil by Hannah Kripa Jordan

Hannah Kripa Jordan’s commentary

I liked this poem, which I found on the helped me to understand tricky Tamil words. One difficulty was making sure that Poetry International website, because I I first wrote out the literal meaning of each the poem sounded funny in English yet found it true to my experience of life in line in English with her help, and then I kept the specific Tamil problems in the India; my family are constantly fixing started to put the words back into more translation; at some points I had to move things for my grandparents. As soon as we poetic lines and create a light, playful rhythm away from the original a little as it was arrive there, my dad puts together a long list for the whole poem. The repetition of the just too difficult to maintain the light tone of all the things that need fixing. Inevitably, line ‘And yet – ’ in my version soon fell into otherwise. In the last stanza the flow of the when we return, there is another list, yet place, giving the stanzas a bit more structure Tamil lines made sense but a literal English we all get by just fine, even if the monsoon and emphasising the contrast between the translation sounded awkward and too winds blow through the gaps in the wall or negative and the positive in the English serious. I managed to keep the final image, the brakes in the car we borrow don’t work. version. As the poem developed, I had to which works in English as well, giving the After I chose this poem, my mum allow stanzas four and five an extra line to poem an ending that accurately reflects the provided a gloss of individual words which accommodate the contrasting tones fully. original.

6 Second prize, 14-and-under category

静夜思

床前明月光，

疑是地上霜。

举头望明月，

低头思故乡。

Li Bai

muse of the moon

The lucid moonlight lies before my bed

I thought it was frost on the Earth

To the light of the moon I raise my head

But long for my home instead.

Translated from Chinese by Grace Wu

Grace Wu’s commentary

While translating this poem, I faced prob- translation, it related the context of the poem descriptive phrases of the landscape. I lems mainly linked to poetic form, individual while seeming more natural in English. believe this makes Chinese poems particu- words and the atmosphere or air the poem The poem rhymed on the end of lines 1, larly special and different because they paint created in the original language. 2 and 4. I decided that I wanted to preserve a picture with so few words, allowing the I found the most difficulty in translating this quality of the poem, because it would reader themselves to imagine the scene. I the title. Translated to English, it literally make my translation seem more fluid and enjoyed the simplicity of the poem because it means ‘Quiet Night Thought’. I was far natural. It was not particularly hard for me created a mystical and ethereal atmosphere. from satisfied by this title because it did to create a rhyme for this poem, because To maintain this quality, I used simple, not have the same breath or personality ‘bed’ and ‘head’ were both mentioned. descriptive words, while also playing with as the title of the original, and didn’t seem However, I did need to change the rhyming gaps which created space and made the natural in English. I decided to translate it lines to lines 1, 3 and 4. speaker seem lost and broken, due to the as ‘muse of the moon’ (‘to muse’ as in ‘to In Mandarin, most poems have this broken lines and phrases: essentially how Li think’). Even though not the most accurate rhyming quality, coinciding with short, Bai seemed to feel when writing this poem.

7 Third prize, 14-and-under category

Versos Sencillos, Verso III Versos Sencillos, Verso III

Odio la máscara y vicio I detest the mask and vice Del corredor de mi hotel: From the corridor of my hotel: Me vuelvo al manso bullicio I turn to the meek noise De mi monte de laurel. Of my mountain of laurel.

Con los pobres de la tierra With the poor of the earth Quiero yo mi suerte echar: I want to cast my luck: El arroyo de la sierra I am more pleased Me complace más que el mar. With the mountain stream than the sea.

Denle al vano el oro tierno Give in vain the tender gold Que arde y brilla en el crisol: That burns and shines in the crucible: A mí denme el bosque eterno Give me the eternal forest Cuando rompe en él el Sol. When the sun first shines in it.

Yo he visto el oro hecho tierra I have seen the gold made land Barbullendo en la redoma: Bubble in the flask: Prefiero estar en la sierra I prefer to be in the mountains Cuando vuela una paloma. When a dove flies.

Busca el obispo de España The bishop of Spain is finding Pilares para su altar; Pillars for his altar; ¡En mi templo, en la montaña, In my temple in the mountains, El álamo es el pilar! The pillar is poplar!

Y la alfombra es puro helecho, And the rug is pure fern, Y los muros abedul, And the walls are of birch, Y la luz viene del techo, And the light comes from the ceiling, Del techo de ciel o azul. From the ceiling of the blue sky.

El obispo, por la noche, The bishop, at night, Sale, despacio, a cantar: Goes out, slowly to sing: Monta, callado, en su coche, Rides, quietly in his coach, Que es la piña de un pinar. Which is a pinecone.

Las jacas de su carroza The pullers of his chariot Son dos pájaros azules: Are two blue birds: Y canta el aire y retoza, And the air sings and romps, Y cantan los abedules. And the birch trees sing.

Duermo en mi cama de roca I sleep in my bed of rock Mi sueño dulce y profundo: My sweet and profound sleep: Roza una abeja mi boca A bee grazed my mouth Y crece en mi cuerpo el mundo. And the world grows in my body.

[…] […]

8 Third prize, 14-and-under category (continued)

Brillan las grandes molduras The great mouldings shine Al fuego de la mañana In the morning fire Que tiñe las colgaduras That dyes the hangings De rosa, violeta y grana. Pink, purple and scarlet.

El clarín, solo en el monte, The bugle alone in the mountains, Canta al primer arrebol: Sings to the first flush: La gasa del horizonte The gauze of the horizon Prende, de un aliento, el Sol. Is burned by the Sun with one breath.

¡Díganle al obispo ciego, Tell the blind bishop, Al viejo obispo de España The old bishop of Spain Que venga, que venga luego, Let him come, let him come later, A mi templo, a la montaña! To my temple, to the mountain!

José Martí Translated from Cuban Spanish by Caroline-Olivia Edwards

Caroline-Olivia Edwards’ commentary

Whilst translating the poem, one of the which then made no sense to me, and I had the Collins Spanish School Dictionary and challenges that I faced was whether to to go back to the poem in Spanish to check the Oxford Online Spanish Dictionary to preserve the rhyming form (ABAB) in that I had translated the words correctly. assist me with the translation of the poem. English. I tried many different synonyms, After that, I changed the word order of Another challenge was the fact that I could but when I did this, I found that it began the sentences so that they read better in not find some of these words in my Collins to affect the structure and meaning of the English and were easier to understand. For Spanish School Dictionary. I was able to poem. As I did not want this to happen, I example, I translated the phrase ‘Que es la predict the meaning of some of the words decided not to keep the rhyme scheme. piña de un pinar’ as ‘Which is the pineapple based on the context of the poem and Secondly, the word order of some of the of a pine forest.’ This means a pinecone. I subsequently check the meaning of them sentences needed changing so that they thought that ‘pinecone’ was more suited to with the online Oxford Spanish Dictionary. made more sense in English. There were the poem’s style, so I changed it. some sentences that I had translated but I am not fluent in Spanish, so I used

9 First prize, 16-and-under category

Не выходи из комнаты Do not leave your room

Не выходи из комнаты, не совершай ошибку. Do not leave your room, do not make a mistake. Зачем тебе Солнце, если ты куришь Шипку? What use is the sun if your smoke chain must break? За дверью бессмысленно всё, особенно — возглас счастья. Outside nothing makes sense, happiness included. Только в уборную — и сразу же возвращайся. Go quickly to the restroom but remain elusive.

О, не выходи из комнаты, не вызывай мотора. Do not leave your room. Потому что пространство сделано из коридора и кончается счётчиком. А если войдёт живая Do not leave your room, do not call a taxi. милка, пасть разевая, выгони не раздевая. Space is nothing but a hallway floor, waxy, that ends with a meter, counting. If your lover Не выходи из комнаты; считай, что тебя продуло. knocks, undresses, caresses - expel her. Что интересней на свете стены и стула? Зачем выходить оттуда, куда вернёшься вечером Do not leave your room. таким же, каким ты был, тем более — изувеченным? Do not leave your room, feign illness, face white. О, не выходи из комнаты. Танцуй, поймав, боссанову What’s more interesting than the lamp’s soft light? в пальто на голое тело, в туфлях на босу ногу. Why leave your room when you will come back later В прихожей пахнет капустой и мазью лыжной. the same, unchanged, if not more mutilated? Ты написал много букв; ещё одна будет лишней. Do not leave your room. Не выходи из комнаты. О, пускай только комната догадывается, как ты выглядишь. И вообще инкогнито Do not leave your room, instead dance the bossa nova эрго сум, как заметила форме в сердцах субстанция. Naked except for shoes with your coat thrown over. Не выходи из комнаты! На улице, чай, не Франция. The smell of cabbage lingers in the hallway, heavy. You wrote countless letters; one more, too many. Не будь дураком! Будь тем, чем другие не были. Не выходи из комнаты! То есть дай волю мебели, Do not leave your room. слейся лицом с обоями. Запрись и забаррикадируйся шкафом от хроноса, космоса, эроса, расы, вируса. Do not leave your room, let these four walls become your only friend, your mirror. Incognito ergo sum Joseph Brodsky as substance once informed form, in the chaos of nightmare. Stay at home, sleep, dance, write. It’s not France out there. © 1970, Joseph Brodsky Reproduced by kind permission of the rightsholder Do not leave your room.

Do not be a fool! Be what others couldn’t be. Stay home for furniture will keep you company. Practise wall-paper fusion. Barricade the door to protect us from Chronos, Cosmos, Eros, the Virus.

Translated from Russian by Megan Turtle

Megan Turtle’s commentary

Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996) was a Brodsky wrote this poem in an entirely perfectly counters his satirical spirit. I used Russian-American poet who explored the satirical manner to mock the intelligentsia an online dictionary to help me translate the relationship between the poet and society of Leningrad at the time, who loathed poem, which allowed me to further explore through his writing. life under Soviet control but did not take Brodsky’s ingenious writing. My favourite This poem bears no title, but is known action to oppose it. However, I still felt rhyme in this poem is in the fourth stanza: by its first line. It was written by Brodsky that the poem’s imagery and lyrical quality ‘боссанову’ (bossa nova) and ‘босу ногу’ in 1970, shortly before he was exiled from definitely made it worth a fresh translation. (bare foot). They are pronounced in an Russia by Soviet authorities, after they Before I translated the poem, I listened almost identical way yet have very different concluded he was ‘not a valuable person at to a recording of Brodsky reading it aloud meanings. This was difficult to reflect in all and may be let go’. I chose this poem in order to understand the poem’s rhythm, English, so I chose to instead use internal because, when removed from its Soviet which proved invaluable as a non-native rhymes such as ‘undresses, caresses’. I also context and read alongside UK government speaker. When I first read the poem, I inserted a line in between each stanza to guidance to stay at home amidst an ongoing was surprised that Brodsky maintained a emphasise the commanding tone of the pandemic, it is particularly relevant to strict rhyme scheme throughout. Yet upon speaker. today. It is important to mention that reflection I realised that the use of rhyme

10 Second prize, 16-and-under category

Il sabato del villaggio Saturday in the village

La donzelletta vien da la campagna, The farmer girl comes from the fields in sul calar del sole, at the setting of the sun; col suo fascio de l’erba; e reca in mano with a sheaf of grass, she bears in hand un mazzolin di rose e di viole, a posy of roses and violets onde, siccome suole, to adorn her chest and hair ornare ella si appresta tomorrow, as usual, dimani, al dì di festa, il petto e il crine. for a day of celebration.

Siede con le vicine The old woman sits on the stairway su la scala a filar la vecchierella, with her neighbours, spinning, incontro là dove si perde il giorno; facing the descent of the sun, e novellando vien del suo buon tempo, and recounting her best years, quando a i dì de la festa ella si ornava, when she would adorn herself for the festival; ed ancor sana e snella still healthy and slim, she once solea danzar la sera intra di quei would dance the night with those ch’ebbe compagni de l’età più bella. companions of a more beautiful age.

Già tutta l’aria imbruna, Already the whole sky darkens, orna azzurro il sereno, e tornan l’ombre the air turns blue, and shadows return giù da’ colli e da’ tetti, down from ridges and roofs, a la luce del vespro e de la luna. to the frosting of the just-risen moon. or la squilla dà segno Now the ringing of the bell beckons de la festa che viene; the return of the festival; ed a quel suon diresti the heart takes relief from that sound. che il cor si riconforta. The boys shouting as one, I fanciulli gridando jumping here and there su la piazzuola in frotta, on the small square, e qua e là saltando, make a glad noise: fanno un lieto romore: meanwhile the farmhand e intanto riede a la sua parca mensa, returns to his modest meal, whistling, fischiando, il zappatore, and dreams of a day of respite. e seco pensa al dì del suo riposo. Then when every other light is quenched, Poi quando intorno è spenta ogni altra face, and all else is silent, e tutto l’altro tace, you hear the hammer striking, you hear the saw odi il martel picchiare, odi la sega of the woodworker, awake del legnaiuol, che veglia in the closed shop under lamplight; ne la chiusa bottega a la lucerna, he hurries, and endeavours e s’affretta, e s’adopra to finish the work before dawn. di fornir l’opra anzi il chiarir de l’alba. […] […]

11 Second prize, 16-and-under category (continued)

Questo di sette è il più gradito giorno, This is the most welcome day of the week, pien di speme e di gioia: full of hope and joy: diman tristezza e noia tomorrow the hours will bear recheran l’ore, ed al travaglio usato sadness and boredom, and each in their thoughts ciascuno in suo pensier farà ritorno. will return to habitual toil.

Garzoncello scherzoso, Playful young man, cotesta età fiorita your age like flowered spring è come un giorno d’allegrezza pieno, is a day full of joy, giorno chiaro, sereno, a clear, serene day, che precorre a la festa di tua vita. a harbinger of the festival of your life. Godi, fanciullo mio; stato soave, Enjoy, my boy; stagion lieta è cotesta. sweetness, gladness is yours. Altro dirti non vo’; ma la tua festa I do not wish to say more. ch’anco tardi a venir non ti sia grave. Your festival may yet seem late in coming; let that not worry you. Giacomo Leopardi Translated from Italian by Alessandro d’Attanasio

Alessandro d’Attanasio’s commentary

For Leopardi, human joy comes from idyllic awake’, to emphasise the dissonance of catharsis from the suffering of maturity. I hope and nebulous imagination. The light- night-time labour against the harmony of translated ‘cotesta età fiorita’ as ‘your age ness of the scene derives from the simplicity the village. like flowered spring’, changing the natural and familiarity of the Italian; however, it is Anticipation, not underwhelming enjoy- imagery to a more familiar metaphor in simultaneously poetic and dreamlike. I used ment, is the source of this joy. Leopardi English. After this, the tone is prosaic, a straightforward and natural lexicon, espe- achieves this using enjambment, which I have peaceful, and melancholy, as if an admoni- cially in the imagery. In the second stanza, retained. Within the hendecasyllabic metre, tion, without enjambment or anastrophe. the elderly lady ‘faces the descent of the sun’ rhymes strengthen thematic connections. I The poet ultimately conceals the deceptive while wistfully ‘recounting her best years’: opted to emphasise these connections using disillusionment of adulthood from the ‘gar- in equating the empyrean to the nostalgic, sibilance (‘with a sheaf of grass, she bears in zoncello’: he ‘do[es] not wish to say more’. my translation emphasises Leopardi’s attach- hand / a posy of roses and violets’), allitera- The Italian is archaic, so I split these two ment to memory. Only the woodworker, tion, as in the third stanza, and consonance lines into three, adding gravitas to the assur- symbolising modernity and distance from in the description of the woodworker. ance that the young man’s carefree stasis and nature, breaks this melody and simplicity; I The final stanza was the most difficult to anticipation is indeed a state of perfection, used consonance, in describing ‘the hammer translate. With an apostrophe, Leopardi’s and one that the poet envies. striking…the saw / of the woodworker, cosmic pessimism achieves temporary

12 Third prize, 16-and-under category

Escrevo diante da janela aberta I write against an open window

Escrevo diante da janela aberta I write against an open window. Minha caneta é cor das venezianas: My pen is the colour of the shutters: Verde!... E que leves, lindas filigranas Green! And what light, beautiful metalwork Desenha o sol na página deserta! That draws the sun on an empty canvas!

Não sei que paisagista doidivanas I don’t know what crazy landscaper Mistura os tons… acerta… desacerta… Would mix the different colours… failing… succeeding Sempre em busca de nova descoberta, Always trying to make a new shade Vai colorindo as horas quotidianas… Every day, colouring in the hours as they pass

Jogos da luz dançando na folhagem! Flashes of light dancing on the leaves! Do que eu ia escrever até me esqueço… I almost forgot what I was going to write Pra que pensar? Também sou da paisagem… But why would I bother? I also come from this landscape Vago, solúvel no ar, fico sonhando… E me transmuto… iriso-me… estremeço… I keep daydreaming, randomly, my thoughts dissolving in the air Nos leves dedos que me vão pintando! And suddenly I am uplifted… enlightened… shuddering At the thought of light fingers painting me! Mario Quintana

© Rua dos Cataventos, Translated from Brazilian Portuguese Editora Alfaguara, São Paulo, SP by Alice Garcia Kalmus Reproduced by kind permission of the rightsholder

Alice Garcia Kalmus’s commentary

The main challenge in translating this word, technically meaning eccentric, but I so I chose ‘fails…’succeeds…’ as the meaning poem was retaining the meaning of the old- thought ‘crazy’ was a better translation, as is the same but it’s more literary. fashioned language. The collection that this it isn’t far from the original meaning and its Another difficulty was translating ‘Pra que poem came from was published in 1940, so use conveys the speaker’s confusion at the pensar?’ which translates as ‘Why think?’, the manner of speaking is very different from behaviour of the imagined landscaper. I also but the speaker is trying to say ‘Why would modern-day Portuguese. struggled with metaphorical language. ‘Página I think about what to write?’, which is too Furthermore, some words were very deserta’ literally means deserted page, which long so I shortened it to ‘Why bother?’. technical and not used colloquially, for in Portuguese sounds poetic, but I thought The greatest challenge was translating the example ‘filigranas’, meaning ‘filigrees’, ‘empty canvas’ was a better translation as penultimate line. ‘Transmuto’ means ‘trans- which I changed to ‘metalwork’ to allow the ‘empty’ has a more appropriate connotation, mute’, which is again a very niche word and in reader to understand, whilst still encapsulat- and ‘canvas’ alludes to the metaphorical this case is used metaphorically (the speaker ing the original meaning. Another example ‘painting’ more clearly. Another example doesn’t change form, but his thoughts/feel- is ‘folhagem’ meaning ‘foliage’, which I of this was ‘acerta… desacerta…’ meaning ings change very suddenly). Since it is implied changed to ‘leaves’, a better-known word. ‘hits… misses…’. In Portuguese the meaning that he feels happy, I changed it to ‘uplifted’ ‘Doidivana/s’ is an old and rarely used is clear, but in English this doesn’t flow well, to make it clearer.

13 First prize, 18-and-under category

I limoni The Lemons

Ascoltami, i poeti laureati Listen to me – laureate poets si muovono soltanto fra le piante only seem to move among plants dai nomi poco usati: bossi ligustri o acanti. with rarely used names: boxwood, privets or acanthus lo, per me, amo le strade che riescono agli erbosi as for me, I love streets that lead to grassy fossi dove in pozzanghere ditches where in partly dried up puddles mezzo seccate agguantano i ragazzi young boys grab at some scrawny eels: qualche sparuta anguilla: the narrow streets that follow these banks le viuzze che seguono i ciglioni, descend onto tufted reeds discendono tra i ciuffi delle canne and unfold onto the orchards, among the lemon trees. e mettono negli orti, tra gli alberi dei limoni. Perhaps it is better if the chorus of the birds Meglio se le gazzarre degli uccelli dwindles, swallowed up by the azure sky; si spengono inghiottite dall’azzurro: you can hear the whispers of the friendly branches più chiaro si ascolta il susurro more clearly now in that almost immovable air, dei rami amici nell’aria che quasi non si muove, and the essences of this fragrance e i sensi di quest’odore that cannot separate itself from the earth che non sa staccarsi da terra pours into our chest with a restless sweetness. e piove in petto una dolcezza inquieta. Here by some miracle, the war Qui delle divertite passioni of adverse passions is stilled, per miracolo tace la guerra, here even the poorest of us can reach our share of wealth – qui tocca anche a noi poveri la nostra parte di ricchezza the fragrance of the lemons. ed è l’odore dei limoni. Look, in these silences when things Vedi, in questi silenzi in cui le cose yield themselves and seem close s’abbandonano e sembrano vicine to revealing their ultimate secret, a tradire il loro ultimo segreto, sometimes we expect talora ci si aspetta to unearth an error in Nature, di scoprire uno sbaglio di Natura, the world’s dead point, the link that comes loose, il punto morto del mondo, l’anello che non tiene, the thread that, untangled, might finally lead us il filo da disbrogliare che finalmente ci metta to the heart of a truth. nel mezzo di una verità. Our gaze searches all around, Lo sguardo fruga d’intorno, The mind probes, assents, disconnects la mente indaga accorda disunisce in the fragrance that sweeps over us nel profumo che dilaga when the day grows faint. quando il giorno piú languisce. These are the silences where one sees Sono i silenzi in cui si vede in every fading human shadow in ogni ombra umana che si allontana some disturbed Divinity. qualche disturbata Divinità. […] […]

14 First prize, 18-and-under category (continued)

Ma l’illusione manca e ci riporta il tempo But the illusion is lost, and time returns us nelle città rumorose dove l’azzurro si mostra to noisy cities where the azure sky only shows itself soltanto a pezzi, in alto, tra le cimase. in fragments, high up, between the cornices. La pioggia stanca la terra, di poi; s’affolta The rain then wearies the earth; il tedio dell’inverno sulle case, the tedium of winter thickens over the roofs, la luce si fa avara – amara l’anima. daylight becomes miserly – the soul bitter. Quando un giorno da un malchiuso portone Yet one day through a gate left ajar tra gli alberi di una corte among the trees of a courtyard ci si mostrano i gialli dei limoni; we catch a glimpse of the yellow lemons; e il gelo del cuore si sfa, and the frost in our hearts thaws, e in petto ci scrosciano and into our chests pour le loro canzoni their songs – le trombe d’oro della solarità the golden trumpets of sunlight.

Eugenio Montale Translated from Italian by Maryam Zaidi © Mondadori Libri SpA, Milano Reproduced by kind permission of the rightsholder

Maryam Zaidi’s commentary

In ‘I limoni’, Eugenio Montale distances experience, but the final stanza grounds and keep to the lyricism of Montale’s original himself from past literary conventions. The Montale’s philosophical thoughts back in form. This was somewhat difficult in the poem is memorable because it focuses on reality. There is a sense of the ‘mal di vivere’ final phrase of the poem, where the subject quotidian life – not the ‘superior’ poetry (the pain of living), through the multifaceted ‘le loro canzoni’ (their songs) is purposefully of the prestigious ‘poeti laureati’ (laureate references to the arrival of winter. Montale separated from its sentence in the previous poets) and their use of florid language. conveys that even through the monotony of line. Here, I made a decision to preserve the Montale instead captures the roots of his winter, contentment awaits him in the form original version. The most difficult thing, personal experiences. Montale paints a of an orchard of lemon trees. however, was when to substitute singular nostalgic picture of the Ligurian landscape The dry sounds in the original Italian for plural and vice versa. For example, in the where he spent summers with his family: were a challenge to translate: the ‘z’s and ‘c’s original Italian, the young boys are grabbing the lanes, the bird-chorus, and the all- within ‘mezzo seccate’ (half-dried-up) and at a singular ‘sparuta anguilla’ (scrawny eel), encompassing scent and sight of the local ‘gazzare’ (to uproar) had to be translated but I have decided to take some liberty and lemon trees. The poem goes on to become a into harsher words to match with the Italian translate it as a plural, as it suits the English more existential look at the truth in human double consonants. Another task was to try better.

15 Second prize, 18-and-under category

Escolares The Schoolchildren

Como hojas de viento sorprendidas en ráfaga Like leaves in a flurry caught on the wind se desprenden del grupo compacto, they break off from the huddle, un niño, dos, cada vez más, one child, two, more and more, levantan en vuelo para encrespar la calle, rise up in flight awakening the street, soplados hacia sí, impelidos a unirse, blown inwards, compelled to come together, deshaciendo el grupo en el que estaban, dispersing the group they were in, buscándolo de nuevo, conformándose. seeking it again, settling. Un imán los aleja y los reúne, A magnet dispels them and gathers them, los dispersa primero hacia la calle, scatters them first across the street, los vuelve a congregar. Es muy extraña reunites them. It is strange esa manera de llenarse, hacerse ser. this way of melding, of becoming one being. Como si no supieran quiénes son sin seguimiento. As if they do not know who they are without following. Se buscan, se tocan, se apelmazan. They seek each other, reach each other, become entangled. Nada se da de golpe sino en un desafío Nothing occurs abruptly except when a challenge que los impide de uno en uno. halts them one by one. Hay dos o tres que ya han cruzado, There are two or three that have crossed now, dos o tres más que empiezan a desprenderse, two or three more who are starting to peel away, hasta que, como si se expandiera el motivo, until, as if the plot were revealed, el bucle se despega, vuela, se asimila, the chain unravels, takes flight, re-joins, cruza la calle en masa. Queda crosses the street as one. A courage un aliento, una suavidad que mece, lingers, a tenderness that sways, que acompaña a los rezagados, que los hace that befriends the stragglers, making them ver que allá no están, que ya no están, que el grupo see that they are not over there, that they are no longer there, that the group está del otro lado. Todo is on the other side. All con una naturalidad de viento amable, with the effortlessness of a gentle breeze, sin violencia, como en ciclo, inevitable, as if in a cycle, masa compacta nuevamente a close band once again, al fin, tras movimiento, apaciguados. at last, after motion, calm.

Pedro Serrano Translated from Mexican Spanish by Olivia Flint Reproduced by kind permission of the poet

Olivia Flint’s commentary

Throughout the poem, I struggled to When translating ‘para encrespar’, I The phrase ‘nada se da de golpe’ provided translate the many reflexive verbs into was conflicted as to whether to include an many challenges in the translation process. suitable English equivalents whilst still allusion to hair (one of the verb’s meanings Firstly, the verb ‘dar’/‘darse’ in Spanish has maintaining fluidity. For example, the is ‘to make [hair] curly’), since in the an immense number of meanings dependent translations of ‘se buscan’ and ‘se tocan’ original poem it forms part of a subtle on context, thus complicating my search for require the addition of the phrase ‘each extended metaphor comparing the children’s a logical definition. Having unpicked the other’ for them to make sense. Consequently, movements to hair. I found the other general sense of the phrase, I then addressed I chose the verbs ‘seek’ and ‘reach’ instead references to hair equally difficult to translate the issue of maintaining the rhythm created of more literal translations. This added whilst nonetheless preserving the same by the succession of short, sharp syllables in assonance, a device not utilised in the layered meaning as in Spanish. Eventually, the original. I substituted ‘occurs abruptly’ original, but which compensated for the loss I chose not to carry this metaphor through for ‘happens suddenly’ because, although of rhythm created by ‘se buscan, se tocan’. my translation and instead used ‘awakening’. the latter seems more natural, the stilted This rhythm is not possible in English due On balance, I felt this was the best option to awkwardness of the sounds in my final to the absence of verb groups such as ‘AR’ convey the overall essence and imagery of choice reflect the poet’s style. verbs which share the same endings. the line to English readers.

16 Third prize, 18-and-under category

日人石井君索和即用原韵

漫云女子不英雄，万里乘风独向东。

诗思一帆海空阔，梦魂三岛月玲珑。

铜驼已陷悲回首，汗马终惭未有功。

如许伤心家国恨，那堪客里度春风！

Qiu Jin

Writing rhymes with Sir Ishii

Do not tell me women cannot be heroic, I sailed the eastward winds alone for thousands of miles.

My poetic thought a solitary sailboat covering the vast ocean, I dreamt of your three islands, exquisite under the light of the moon.

With sorrow I remember the copper camels of our nation, trapped and unable to move forward Ashamed, I have sweated my warhorse, yet achieved nothing.

Grieving over my homeland fills me with regret, How can I spend my days here? A guest, enduring your pleasant spring breezes.

Translated from Chinese by Isobel Birkeland

Isobel Birkeland’s commentary

This poem, written by Qiu Jin, a I would not be able to fully convey, in only 5, as ‘铜驼’ refers to the bronze camel statues 19th-century Chinese poet, expresses her seven words per line, the meaning created which guarded one entrance to the imperial ‘poetic thoughts’ about the role of women in through the multiple meanings held by each palace in China, symbolising the palace and society, her life in Japan, and her regrets over character in the poem, so I chose to not obey therefore China as a whole. I also chose to leaving China. It is written in the form lüshi, this, but instead to make each line as concise translate the last seven-character line of the which consists of eight lines of five or seven as I could. poem as two separate lines, and I translated characters. Lüshi also often have parallelism As this is a Chinese poem from the ‘堪’ as both ‘can’, in line 8, and ‘endure’, between couplets: a theme developed in nineteenth century, there were some cultural in line 9, in order to emphasise what I one couplet would be contrasted in the references I had difficulties in translating. perceived as the conflict of emotion the poet following one, thus making this poem seem One such reference was ‘铜驼’ which literally experienced in feeling out of place and guilty, rather disjointed. Although this poem was means ‘copper camel’. I chose to translate this living pleasantly in Japan while the inequality written with seven characters per line, I felt as ‘the copper camels of our nation’ on line she fought against still existed in China.

17 First prize, open category

康桥西野暮色 Wild West Cambridge at Dusk

一个大红日挂在西天 a big red sun hangs on the western sky 紫云绯云褐云 purple clouds crimson clouds brown clouds 簇簇斑田田 mottled fields in clusters lie 青草黄田白水 green grass yellow wheat white fens 郁郁密密鬋鬋 lush lush dense dense shagginess 红瓣黑蕊长梗 red petals black stamens long stems 罂粟花三三两两 poppies in flower in twos and threes 一大块透明的琥珀 one large lump of translucent amber 千百折云凹云凸 concave convex cloud-folds without number

南天北天暗暗默默 south sky north sky hugger-mugger hush hush 东天中天舒舒阖阖 east sky mid sky totally leisurely 宇宙在寂静中构合 universe gathering in tranquillity 太阳在头赫里告别 sun departing in supreme glory 一阵临风 a gust of wind 几声 “可可” some sounds bye-bye

一颗大胆的明星 a bold star arrogantly rides 仿佛骄矜的小艇 like a bumptious little boat 抵牾着云涛云潮 braving cloud-billows cloud-tides 兀兀漂漂潇潇 pip-pip pitter-patter afloat 侧眼看暮焰沉销 in a blink the dusk-blaze subsides 回头见伙伴来! see you later mate

晚霞在林间田里 sunset glows on the woods and the fields 晚霞在原上溪底 sunset glows on the plain and the beck 晚霞在风头风尾 sunset glows on windward and lee 晚霞在村姑眉际 sunset glows on a country girl’s brow 晚霞在燕喉鸦背 sunset glows on crow’s back swallow’s neck 晚霞在鸡啼犬吠 sunset glows on cock’s cry dog’s bark

晚霞在田陇陌上 sunset glows on the field-ridge lane 陌上田垅行人种种 on the track through the field walk folk of all kinds 白发的老妇老翁 white-haired old women and old men 屈躬咳嗽龙钟 bent bodies stoop splutter senile minds 农夫工罢回家 farmers stop work and prepare to rush home 肩锄手篮口衔菰巴 shoulder hoe hand trug mouth bite mushroom

白衣裳的红腮女郎 white dress worn by a red-cheeked maid 攀折几茎白葩红英 breaking off stalks white buds red flowers 笑盈盈翳入绿荫森森 prettily laughing in thick green shade 跟着肥满蓬松的 “北京” fat smug fluffy beijing retires 罂粟在凉园里摇曳 poppies wave in the cool outdoors 白杨树上一阵鸦啼 on the white poplar a lone crow caws

[…] […]

18 First prize, open category (continued)

夕照只剩了几痕紫气 the sunset has left a faint purple wake 满天镶嵌着星巨星细 all of the sky is a mixed-star mosaic 田里路上寂无声响 on the road in the field all is still and quiet 榆荫里的村屋微泄灯芒 the cottage by the elm leaks a needle of light 冉冉有风打树叶的抑扬 the wind-struck leaves rise and fall on the boughs 前面远远的树影塔光 the distant trees cast pagoda shadows 罂粟老鸦宇宙婴孩 poppy crow universe babies all 一齐沉沉奄奄眠熟了也 sleep sound breathe soft resting well

Xu Zhimo Translated from Chinese by Stuart Lyons

Stuart Lyons’s commentary

In the spring of 1922, Xu Zhimo read James text (stanza three, line six) and the inverted I referenced through alliteration and Joyce’s newly published novel Ulysses. He commas around 可可 (stanza two, line six) assonance. I tried to respect Xu’s rhythmic was bowled over by Molly’s punctuation- and 北京 (stanza six, line four) as probable and rhyming schemes and to be true to free monologue in the final chapter. ‘Wild interpolations and removed them from my his imagery, while using vocabulary that West Cambridge at Dusk’, depicting scenes English translation. Xu overcomes the need was close to the Chinese but would strike around his home village of Sawston, was the for punctuation through the clarity of his a chord with English readers, for example result. When Xu sent it for publication, he poetic writing. Every stanza describes an in the star’s boat-ride across the clouds. In included an introductory note. ‘A snake does acutely observed phase of the closing day. the last stanza, I aimed to express the scene not need feet in order to move,’ he wrote, His lines have colour, texture, sound and though Xu’s eyes – the night sky as a mosaic, ‘and a poem does not need punctuation.’ wit – ‘beijing’ refers to his pregnant wife. the needle of light from a darkened cottage In Ulysses, he noted, there were ‘no capital Xu’s sometimes unusual choice of Chinese and the pagoda-shaped shadows from the letters, no ‘ ……? : ---- ; ---- ! ( ) “ ” but a characters adds to the enchantment; he trees. ‘Wild West Cambridge at Dusk’ broke cascade of truly great writing.’ I treated the uses duplicated characters frequently and new ground. It is rhythmically compelling exclamation mark in the standard Chinese on occasion innovatively, a feature which and artistically spectacular.

19 Second prize, open category

Radość pisania The Joy of Writing

Dokąd biegnie ta napisana sarna przez napisany las? The written doe. Where is she running through the written wood? Czy z napisanej wody pić, To dip her written muzzle in the inky pool która jej pyszczek odbije jak kalka? to take a drink? Dlaczego łeb podnosi, czy coś słyszy? Why does she lift her head? What does she hear? Na pożyczonych z prawdy czterech nóżkach wsparta She listens, balanced, spod moich palców uchem strzyże. on limbs borrowed from the truth emerging from beneath my fingers. Cisza – ten wyraz też szeleści po papierze Silence – that word also scuttles across the page i rozgarnia parting spowodowane słowem „las” gałęzie. the branches of the wood sprung up from words.

Nad białą kartką czają się do skoku On the white page, letters litery, które mogą ułożyć się źle, lie in wait to leap zdania osaczające; into a tangled undergrowth of sentences przed którymi nie będzie ratunku. from which there is no escape.

Jest w kropli atramentu spory zapas In a drop of ink, there are more than enough myśliwych z przymrużonym okiem, hunters, squinting, gotowych zbiec po stromym piórze w dół, ready to run down the steep slope of the pen, otoczyć sarnę, złożyć się do strzału. to hem in, to take aim at the doe.

Zapominają, że tu nie jest życie. They forget that this is not life, here. Inne, czarno na białym, panują tu prawa. Other laws govern in black and white. Oka mgnienie trwać będzie tak długo, jak zechcę, The blink of an eye lasts as long as I command, pozwoli się podzielić na małe wieczności will split into future fragments pełne wstrzymanych w locie kul. full of bullets stopped mid-flight. Na zawsze, jeśli każę, nic się tu nie stanie. Unless I say so, nothing here will change. Bez mojej woli nawet liść nie spadnie Unless I will it, not even a leaf will fall, ani źdźbło się nie ugnie pod kropką kopytka. nor will the doe break the sedge beneath her hoof.

Jest więc taki świat, So is there such a world nad którym los sprawuję niezależny? on which I rest my fate? Czas, który wiążę łańcuchami znaków? In which I bind time in symbolic chains? Istnienie na mój rozkaz nieustanne? World without end at my command?

Radość pisania. The joy of writing. Możność utrwalania. The power of preserving. Zemsta ręki śmiertelnej. Taking revenge against the hand of death.

Wisława Szymborska Translated from Polish by Marta Ciechanowicz Reproduced by kind permission of Fundacja Wisławy Szymborskiej (the Wisława Szymborska Foundation)

Marta Ciechanowicz’s commentary

The main challenges in translating Polish to create, destroy and preserve – but delivered scope to place emphasis on certain words, English are that Polish, being inflected, lacking with a freshness, directness and lyricism that for example by giving ‘parting’ its own articles and often subject pronouns, is highly I found captivating. However, that very line. I also exploited rhythm, slowing and economical, something that is challenging to imagery, with its complex dual narrative of gathering the pace of the line, for example replicate in English. It also allows the Polish hunting and writing sustained throughout the tense, slow monosyllables of ‘lie in wait poet extraordinary flexibility of word order. the poem, was precisely where the challenge to leap’. Furthermore, the Polish sound palette, quite lay in the translation. The content of the By far the most challenging image to unlike English, tends to sibilance, and as poem gave license for liberty. render was that of the doe bending to drink, there are so few cognates between Polish and I chose to build a soundworld by her face reflected in the pool, as dark as English, the translator has to create wholly alliterating predominantly on ‘l’, punctuated carbon paper. I replaced this image with one new networks of sound associations. A with onomatopoeic words like ‘scuttles’, of the deer, dipping her muzzle to suggest strictly faithful translation was not possible which echoes the onomatopoeic Polish a pen in an inkpot or ink bleeding into without losing lyricism. word ‘szeleści’. I highlighted the halt of the water, which extends Szymborska’s original Szymborska’s poem is a variation on a bullets with the percussive ‘bullets stopped complex metaphors of the implements of well-worn theme – the potency of poetry to mid-flight’. The free verse form gave me writing.

20 Third prize, open category

staub dust

wenn die tür geschlossen wird, sind auch die hunde whenever the door is closed, the dogs too are still in ihren hütten, der flugverkehr ist eingestellt, kein silent in their houses, no more flights, no rasenmäher und kein weckerticken, nichts stört, nur lawnmowers and no ticking clocks, nothing disturbs, only

der saum der gardine, der am boden schleift. ein lichtstrahl, the hem of the curtain polishing the floor, a finger of light der mein auge trifft. fiebergefühle. das holz knackt leise. touching my eye. fever feelings. the wood softly cracks. nur eine wespe, die ans fenster schlägt. drausen wiegen only a wasp pounding the window. outside the pine

die tannen. im zimmer, unter meinem bett, wo einer trees rock. in the room, under my bed, where someone liegt mit stumpfem messer, zittern die flusen. staub. lies with a dull knife, the lint balls quake. dust. staub. ich höre die wespe, die über mir ist. das klappern dust. i hear the wasp, who is above me. the clatter

von tellern aus der küche, gläserklirren, jetzt der besteck: of plates from the kitchen, glass clink, now cutlery: wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn, ist erst der tierfilm who, if I scream, will hear me then, it’s only the animal film im dritten programm und das gespräch in vollem gang on channel three and the conversation in full swing

und nichts davon für mich bestimmt, gefangen im endlosen and certainly nothing there for me, caught in endless nachtmittagslicht. staub. staub. bin ich das insekt, das maßlost afternoon light. dust. dust. am i the insect, the boundlessly erschöpfte, in diesem bett lag meine mutter als kind. exhausted, in this bed my mother lay as a child.

Nadja Küchenmeister Translated from German by Ben Fergusson Originally published as ‘staub’ in Alle Lichter © Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2010 (Reproduced by kind permission of the rightsholder)

Ben Fergusson’s commentary

Nadja Küchenmeister (b. 1981) is a multi- I have kept the all-lowercase form of the I have tried to retain the sense of many award-winning German poet from Berlin. German, an approach that has been popular of the compound nouns in the German – In her poem ‘dust’ she beautifully weaves in German poetry since the middle of the ‘fiebergefühle’ (fever feelings); ‘gläserklirren’ together the nightmarish and the quietly last century, aiming to flatten the hierarchy (glass clink) – which would be more literally domestic in a monologue that may simply of the words. The effect in German, with translated as ‘feelings of fever’ and ‘clinking describe the experience of someone con- its capitalised nouns, is much more visually of glasses’ respectively, but would lose the valescing at home, or something far more pronounced than in English – compare ‘der power of the original German nouns. German threatening. In translating the poem, I saum der gardine, der am boden schleift’ word order also allows Küchenmeister to have carefully kept to the rhythms of the and the correctly capitalised ‘Der Saum split verbs from their subjects over stanzas German and have worked hard to capture der Gardine, der am Boden schleift.’ In the – ‘drausen wiegen / die tannen’ – which in the sense of feverish hyper-sensitivity English translation, the lowercase ‘i’ of the English sounds forced and old-fashioned. In evoked by Küchenmeister’s interplay of first-person pronoun ‘I’ is the only place that these places, I have split the compound nouns soft and hard sounds and the uncomfortable an English reader really feels the strangeness to echo a little of the disorientating effect – broken syntax of the verse. of this effect for the German reader. ‘outside the pine / trees rock.’

21 Polish Spotlight

ur new Spotlight programme, launched in 2018, unites contributed to these online publications, which will remain Othe Stephen Spender Prize with our education pro- on our website to inspire future generations of translators. grammes. It enables us to give extra attention to languages Particular thanks are due to Maja Konkolewska. As well spoken in the UK, through workshops for young people and as participating in the Spotlight strand of our Creative a dedicated strand of the Prize. Translation in the Classroom project, Maja worked with Over the past three years we have developed partner- Antonia to select poems for the booklet, and supported our ships with Polish Saturday Schools across the UK, with development of virtual resources for Polish literature. Both the Polish Cultural Institute, and with Polish translators Maja and Antonia are committed and generous advocates of and poets. These networks, together with funding from Polish literature in the UK, and it has been a great pleasure the Rothschild Foundation, the Polonsky Foundation, the to work so closely with them both. European Commission in the UK and the British Council, As Polish moves away from the Spotlight, we look forward have enabled us to nurture a growing community of budding to increased Polish entries to the multilingual categories of young translators from Polish. the Stephen Spender Prize in the coming years. And as we The Spotlight prize is open to 18-and-under entrants only, celebrate this year’s excellent winners and commendees, allowing us to tailor it to the needs of young translators. we also usher in our new Spotlight on Urdu, which we will Keen to make the prize accessible to all, regardless of back- launch in 2021 in partnership with poet and translator Sascha ground, this year our judge Antonia Lloyd-Jones curated a Aurora Akhtar. booklet of poems for translation, and we broadcast a series of virtual masterclasses on translating Polish poetry. We Charlotte Ryland are grateful to all the poets, translators and publishers who Director of the Stephen Spender Trust

22 Polish Spotlight: Judge’s comments

This year I decided to entries, which was six. showing intelligence and maturity in take the opportunity to It was interesting to see from the his thought processes and sensitivity introduce the potential commentaries provided by the transla- to the meaning and form of the poem. contestants to some tors how even the youngest put careful In her translation of ‘Tea Party’ by contemporary poets consideration into their work, not just Agnieszka Frączek, the runner-up, whose work they might translating literally but with thought Michaela Konkolewska-Grybė, can not know, by providing a curated list of for the poet’s intentions and methods. clearly see that the success of the poem twenty-five poems for them to choose They have weighed up the effects pro- relies on rhyme, rhythm, and comedy, from. With the invaluable help of Maja duced by a particular choice of tense, and that clever alternatives to the literal Konkolewska, who has run school punctuation, rhyme and rhythm, and meaning are the key to achieving the workshops in poetry translation for have experimented to see if these need same effect in English. the Stephen Spender Trust and has an to be preserved or changed to serve the In the 18-and-under category, excellent ear for poems that appeal poet’s aims better in English. There are Hanna Kisiala’s winning translation to children of various ages, I chose a plenty of encouraging signs here for of ‘Homecoming’ by Bronisław Maj range of poems aimed at the youngest the future of Polish poetry in English conveys a complex poem with great as well as the oldest translators, from translation, I’m happy to say. empathy and skill, retaining the emo- comical rhymes to be read at bedtime In the 10-and-under category, the tional momentum and beauty of the to sophisticated, philosophical verses. entrants were not afraid to tackle original. In second place, Skye Slatcher’s I wondered whether to categorise the rhyme and rhythm. The winner, Aaron translation of ‘And that’s why’ by Adam poems by age, but realised that some of Ferguson, ambitiously chose a playful Zagajewski shows awareness of the the comical rhymes are the most dif- poem by Zbigniew Machej, about fleas apparent simplicity of lines that offer ficult to translate, so it would be wrong jumping from one dog to another. He a subtle message, which comes across to impose limits. has understood that the poem needs to convincingly. And in third place, Patrick Asked for their permission to use hop from line to line, just like the fleas. Lynch has produced a bold translation their work for the competition, the The runner-up, Maximilian Hempler, of Czesław Miłosz’s ‘A Song on the End poets and their agents were very willing has admirably retained the rhyme of the World’ that successfully recreates – I’m extremely grateful to them for and rhythm of Łukasz Dębski’s ‘The the sinister contrast between ordinary being so open to the idea. Seventeen Sawfish’, with some imaginative use of life and its inevitable end. of the twenty-five curated poems were phrases gleaned from British children’s Overall, the standard of entries was chosen for translation by the entrants, literature. high, showing literary talent and imagi- some of them several times. One of the In the 14-and-under category, the nation. Well done and congratulations most difficult and meaningful poems, winner, Alexander Fletcher, has pro- to all our contestants. ‘A Song on the End of the World’ by duced a very impressive translation of Czesław Miłosz, attracted the most ‘Opposing Winds’ by Tomasz Różycki, Antonia Lloyd-Jones

23 Polish Spotlight – winner, 10-and-under category

Z psa na psa skacze pchła From dog to dog flea bobs

z psa na psa From dog to dog skacze pchła Flea bobs hop hop hopsa Nip nip nips hop hop hopsa nip nip nips pchła skacze Flea bobs bardzo wysoko Very high jak przez piramidę Cheopsa Beyond the Cheops Pyramid lepiej niż pasikonik Better than grasshopper a pies psa goni And dog runs after dog a pies za psem leci Once backwards raz w tył Once crosswise raz w skos Once opposite raz naprzeciw Once against raz wbrew Running around the park biegają sobie w parku Dogs among the trees psy pośród drzew And Flea a pchła Nip nip nips hop hop hopsa Bobs skacze From one ridge to another z jednego grzbietu Like an Apache chasing mustangs na drugi There’s no better rave for the flea gangs jak Indianin który łapie mustangi Than to hop from dog to dog nie ma dla pcheł lepszej balangi From Tail to Tail niż przeskakiwać z psa na psa From coat to coat z ogona High and far na ogon Like in a game z jednej psiej sierści Like in the Olympics na drugą Flea i wzwyż i w dal The Athlete jak na zawodach Acrobat and Ballerina jak na olimpiadzie She just tenses a little pchła And hops jak lekkoatletka Far far away cyrkówka i baletnica Like from the Earth to the Moon tylko się trochę napręży Even to its dark side i skacze Such Dog and Flea Theatre daleko daleko Everyone would like to see jak z ziemi Well yes, such Circus de Flea na księżyc wouldn’t be bad to see a nawet na drugą stronę księżyca na taki psi i pchli teatrzyk […] każdy by sobie chętnie popatrzył no tak na takie cyrki pchle popatrzeć by nie było źle

[…]

24 Polish Spotlight – winner, 10-and-under category (continued)

ale widzimy But we can only spot tylko dwa psy two dogs co latają za sobą that chase each other po parku around the park tylko czasami Only sometimes jeden albo drugi either one or another staje siada gets up or sits down pysk odwróci looks around i łapą energicznie Or briskly scratches drapie się po karku its collar line by pchłę To get rid z siebie zrzucić of the flea from its spine

Zbigniew Machej Translated by Aaron Ferguson Reproduced by kind permission of Biuro Literackie

Aaron Ferguson’s commentary

I speak two languages and understand that direct translation doesn’t always work. Words may not work in the same sentence in a different language, so I had to find the right ones and make them fit and rhyme. During this task the biggest challenge was finding the right words in English that would also make sense and rhyme like the original. I felt the pressure of trying to create a poem from translation that would also make sense, that an author or poet might sometimes feel and I thoroughly enjoyed the task set.

25 Polish Spotlight – commended, 10-and-under category

Ryba Pila A Sawfish

Ostra i zła ryba piła There was a sawfish Małego śledzia goniła. Sharp like a sting Poprosił więc śledź chudzina Who chased a thin herring – poor thing! O pomoc starego rekina. ‘Help, help’ – the herring called Ten w pomoc sił włożył tyle, His friend – Mr Shark – who was very old. Że stępił piłę złej pile. He came to the rescue with all his might and main Skąd dziwnych wypadków tych splot? And his efforts were not in vain. Odpowiedź: to był rekin młot. So how did he get the sawfish to lose its sharp? The answer is simple – his full name was Mr Hammerhead Shark! Łukasz Dębski Translated by Reproduced by kind permission of the poet Maximilian Hempler

Maximilian Hempler’s commentary

I have involved my son, aged 5, in translating the poem literally word for word, that it Blow’, and concluded that the herring from poetry during lockdown. He loves poems didn’t rhyme and sounded ‘boring’. His the Polish poem is a ‘poor thing’, just like the by classic Polish authors and enjoys rhymes first big decision was how to choose words robin. Direct quote from other stories: My in all forms. The final version of the poem for the ends of the lines so they’d rhyme. son struggled with the line ten w pomoc... is the result of scaffolded and structured We looked at the words for two lines and He didn’t quite understand what had really activities from the Trust’s page as well as tried to see what rhymes with them. This happened when the shark sił włożył tyle. He my own activities created at home. My son was the basis for the rhyming pattern. How then took out one of his favourite stories in picked ‘Ryba Piła’ as he worked on a similar to translate chudzina? I explained that this English, ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’, and poem at school called ‘Starvin’ Martin’ and a word refers to a person or animal that is very referred to a line from the book, explaining short text ‘A Shark in the Park’. thin but also poorly, and the word makes that it is exactly what Zog and Sir Gadabout Big Decisions: How to make it rhyme? My us feel sorry for them. My son referred to a did to help Princess Pearl. He decided to son noticed very quickly, after translating song from school, ‘The North Wind Doth change the quote to suit his translation.

26 Polish Spotlight – winner, 14-and-under category

Przeciwne wiatry Opposing Winds

Kiedy zacząłem pisać, nie wiedziałem jeszcze, When I started writing, I did not know yet że każde moje słowo będzie zabierało that each of my words would be taking away po kawałku ze świata, w zamian zostawiając a piece of the world, leaving behind jedynie miejsca puste. Że powoli wiersze only empty places. That slowly verses

zastąpią mi ojczyznę, matkę, ojca, pierwszą would replace my homeland, my mother, my father, my first miłość i drugą młodość, a co zapisałem, love and my second youth, and what I had written, ubędzie z tego świata, zamieni swe stałe would be taken away from this world, would abandon its solid istnienie na byt lotny, stanie się powietrzem, state, evaporate, become air,

wiatrem, dreszczem i ogniem, i to, co poruszę wind, rain and fire, and that which I animated w wierszu, znieruchomieje w życiu, i pokruszy in verse, would become still in life, and would crumble się na tak drobne cząstki, że się stanie prawie into particles so minuscule, that it would become almost antymaterią, pyłem całkiem niewidzialnym, anti-matter, a cloud of invisible dust,

wirującym w powietrzu, tak długo, aż wpadnie spiralling in the air until in the end, w końcu tobie do oka, a ono załzawi. it falls in your eye and makes it tear up.

Tomasz Różycki Translated by Reproduced by kind permission of the poet Alexander Fletcher

Alexander Fletcher’s commentary

When translating this poem by Tomasz alter the original structure, because I liked that the literal translation worked best Różycki, I encountered a few dilemmas, the effect that the heavy use of enjambment, and reduced the risk of twisting the poet’s because, although the poem looks fairly creating a more dramatic atmosphere, had intention. simple at first glance due to a lack of com- on the poem. I also decided to preserve the The final problem I had to solve was plicated metre, it has its particular melody original capitalisation in my translation, translating scientific terms from Polish and deep philosophical meaning. rather than starting each verse with a capital into English (‘stałe istnienie na byt lotny’ My first dilemma was whether to split up letter in a more conventional fashion. or ‘stanie się prawie antymaterią’). This was the two original sentences that constitute Another problem that I faced was difficult because they had to make sense in the poem in Polish to adapt it to a modern translating the title literally as ‘opposing the poem, but also be scientifically correct. English style of writing, in which sentences winds’, which is a common maritime term I circumvented this problem by first tend to be shorter than in Polish, or whether in English, but not necessarily what the making sure these terms made sense from to preserve the original two-sentence con- poet had in mind choosing this title for his the scientific point of view in English, and struction of the poem. After experimenting poem. However, after considering a few then evaluated my choices from the poetic with these two approaches, I decided not to alternatives such as ‘rival winds’, I decided angle.

27 Polish Spotlight – commended, 14-and-under category

Herbatka Tea Party

Ciocia Hela z wujkiem Tadkiem Aunty Hela and Uncle Jesse zaprosili na herbatkę Invited us round for a cup of tea tłum sąsiadów, pół rodziny A crowd of neighbours, half the family i znajomych dwa tuziny. And some friends (two dozen actually)

- Czy są wszyscy...? “Is everyone here?” - Zaraz...! Liczę... “Wait, I’m counting!” (Proszę, jedzcie już słodycze.) (Look at the amount of sweets she’s downing!) Nie ma damy z rudą kotką! “The lady with the red cat isn’t here!” (Częstuj się szarlotką, złotko.) (Help yourself to some cake, my dear)

- Tej, co mieszka na parterze? “The one that lives on the ground floor? - Tak, tej właśnie! “Yes! Her.” - Śpi? “Is she sleeping?” - Nie wierzę! “I’m not sure” - Może dama jest nieśmiała? “Perhaps the lady is just shy?” - Może o nas zapomniała? “Maybe she forgot the time?” - Może się przed lustrem stroi? “Maybe she is getting dressed? - Ale po co? Sami swoi... “But why? We are all her friends.” - Pójdę po nią! Poczekajcie? “I’ll go get her! Wait for me?”

Lecz już było po herbatce.. But they all ran out of tea

Agnieszka Frączek Translated by Reproduced by kind permission of the poet Michaela Konkolewska-Grybė and Wydawnictwo Literatura

Michaela Konkolewska-Grybė’s commentary

For my entry I chose the poem ‘Herbatka’ by Agnieszka Frączek. The first challenge for me was finding rhyming words. The poem also had rhythm so I had to find words that would create a similar flow. The second challenge was to find a name for my character (the uncle) that rhymed with the word ‘tea’. I couldn’t think of any names off the top of my head so I went to Google and found the name Jesse. The third challenge was to add in speech. In the poem there were many conversations and it was difficult to think of dialogue that had rhythm and rhyme. Overall, I really enjoyed translating this poem.

28 Polish Spotlight – winner, 18-and-under category

Powrót

W tej jednej chwili, która już minęła, tak jak przemija i chwila narodzin: stara kobieta o ciele spustoszonym chorobą - nagle łagodnie odsuwa lekarstwa, biel bandaży, nasze ręce, płacz, śmierć i życie - i wybiega: w słońce; młodziutka dziewczyna, złotowłosa i smukła jak tańczący płomyk, w gorące, senne popołudnie tego czerwca: idzie przez rynek miasteczka, niecierpliwa, spragniona. Do studni, w zmienny cień akacji: schylona, w lusterku wody widzi niewinnie czysty wizerunek świata i - zachwycona - swoją twarz w koronie warkoczy, w koronie światła, świata, w złocie i bieli obłoków. Radośnie zawstydzona, łagodnie, mąci obraz: pije żywą wodę. I odbiega, spragniona. Czas wracać do domu: cichą ulicą Kühna, w odurzającym szpalerze róż i malw nad płotami, z każdą chwilą młodsza, pod czerwonymi lampionami jarzębin, idzie do domu: domu sióstr, braci, kotów, lalek, wstążek, coraz młodsza: mała dziewczynka, z trudem odmyka kutą furtkę, biegnie, niecierpliwa, spragniona, przez ciepłą trawę - do domu, do Domu Ojca. I, coraz młodsza, maleńka, zaledwie objawiona niewinnemu światu, jeszcze bezimienna, jeszcze nie rozumiejąc ani słowa, a nagle już wszystko pojmując - usłyszy, spragniona, usłyszy: „Talitha kum!” I powróci.

Bronisław Maj

Reproduced by kind permission of the poet

29 Polish Spotlight – winner, 18-and-under category (continued)

Homecoming

In that single moment, which is over now, as fleeting as that of birth, the old woman, her body devastated by disease, suddenly, gently pushes away the medicine, the white bandages, our hands, our tears, death and life- she runs out: out into the sun; a youthful girl, golden-haired and graceful as a dancing flame on a hot sleepy afternoon in June; she walks through the square of the little town, impatient, thirsty. To the well, in the fickle shade of the acacia; bending over, she sees in the water’s mirror an image of the world, innocent and pure and - delighted - her face in a crown of braids, in a crown of light, crown of the world, gold and white as the clouds. Happily humbled, she gently stirs the picture: she drinks the living water and runs off, eager. It’s time to go home, along quiet Kühn Street, with its intoxicating rows of roses and mallow over its fences, every second she is younger, under the red rowanberry lanterns, she is going home: the home of sisters, brothers, cats, dolls, bows; she is younger and younger, a little girl, she struggles to open the iron gate, she runs, impatient, eager, through the warm grass- she is going to her home, her Father’s house. And, even younger, so little, barely revealed to the innocent world, still nameless, still barely understanding a word, suddenly she understands everything. Eagerly, so eagerly, she will hear: ‘“Talitha Kum!”; and she is home.

Translated by Hanna Kisiala

Hanna Kisiala’s commentary

I decided to translate ‘Powrót’ by Another challenge was preserving the lose their significance in direct translation. Bronisław Maj because it reflects the enjambment, which I was keen to do, as it For example, although ‘Powrót’ literally cultural significance of Christian belief in reflects how the girl is running towards her means ‘return’, with the significance being Polish literature, masterfully channelling final destination as she gets younger and in the belief that the afterlife is where people metaphysical concepts into vivacious younger, the sentences spilling over lines, return to God, I felt that this word in English imagery. This meant having contextual until at the very end the poem can stop was not reflective of the significance of the understanding whilst translating; I when she finally returns home. Since most girl’s journey to a specific destination where interpreted Maj’s use of ‘[Dom] Ojca’ to of the English words I employ are longer her heavenly Father resides, so I decided to mean ‘her Father’s House’, which alluded than their Polish counterparts, I simplified employ the idea of ‘home’. Since Polish has to Jesus’s expressions in the Bible, and the punctuation within the lines so as to keep one word for ‘home’ and ‘house’, while the which I thought best enriched the image of the reader engaged by breaking up some English understanding of ‘home’ is more the young girl eagerly running home to her longer sentences, which also amplified the personal and emotional, I employed this spiritual father, longing to be where she can enjambment. word in both the title and end to convey the achieve satiety for eagerness that is repeated I had to decide on the translation of some sentiment of why this ‘return’ is special. throughout the poem. of the key words of the poem which would

30 Polish Spotlight – commended (1), 18-and-under category

I dlatego And that’s why

I dlatego chodziłem korytarzami And that’s why I walked the corridors Tych wielkich muzeów Of these big museums Patrząc na obrazy świata Looking at paintings of the world Na których Dawid jest niewinny jak harcerz In which David is as innocent as a boy scout Goliat zasługuje na nikczemną śmierć And Goliath deserves a fate worse than death A na płótnach Rembrandta panuje wieczny półmrok Or on Rembrandt’s canvases an eternal dusk reigns Półmrok niepokoju i skupienia A dusk of anxiety and focus I przechodziłem od sali do sali And I walked from hall to hall Podziwiając portrety cynicznych kardynałów Admiring the portraits of cynical cardinals W rzymskiej purpurze In Roman purple Ekstatyczne chłopskie wesela Joyous peasant weddings Namiętnych graczy w karty albo w kości Passionate players of cards or dice Oglądając żaglowce bitwy i chwile pojednania Looking at sailing ships battles and moments of reconciliation I dlatego chodziłem korytarzami And that’s why I walked the corridors Tych sławnych muzeów tych nieziemskich pałaców Of these famous museums of these unearthly palaces Próbując zrozumieć ofiarę Izaaka Trying to understand Isaac’s sacrifice Smutek Marii i pogodne niebo nad Sekwaną Mary’s sorrow and the serene skies over the Seine I zawsze wracałem na wielkomiejską ulicę And I always returned to the metropolitan streets Gdzie wciąż trwały szaleństwo cierpienie i śmiech − Where the chaos suffering and laughter continued - Jeszcze nie namalowane. Not yet painted.

Adam Zagajewski Translated by Skye Slatcher Reproduced by kind permission of the poet

Skye Slatcher’s commentary

In these peculiar times of isolation and reminiscent, contemplative mood; keeping for example ‘p’ on line six. I decided that I social-distancing, one form of entertain- this was very important. Therefore, I tried would not keep this in my version, because ment I have found particularly comforting to stay as close as possible to the exact I couldn’t find the appropriate words to fit is a virtual museum or art gallery tour. So, imagery in the original, as this plays a key both the tone of the poem and the repetition when I was browsing the curated selection part in setting the atmosphere. of a letter. of poetry for the Polish Spotlight, and came I found that panuje was a difficult word I think that the poem in its entirety poses across ‘I dlatego’ by Adam Zagajewski, I to translate, on line six. Panuje can mean a challenge to the translator as well as the knew I had to choose it. It reflects on the ‘there is’, however I didn’t think that this reader. Zagajewski leaves to the imagination beauty of paintings, concluding with a was the best translation – I wanted to the reason for the speaker’s journey through memorable statement about our lives, ‘not ensure the line was as poetic in English as the museum. He/she could be looking for yet painted’. in Polish. I chose to use the verb ‘reigns’ inspiration, an escape from reality. To me, One challenge I faced, while translat- instead, as this maintains the prominence of however, it speaks of searching for some- ing, was retaining the tone that Zagajewski the dusk in the Rembrandt painting. thing in a painting that he is missing in his introduces. The poem has a sort of Often, we see Zagajewski using alliteration, own life, a sense of peace and tranquillity.

31 Polish Spotlight – commended (2), 18-and-under category

Piosenka o końcu świata A song on the end of the world

W dzień końca świata On the day of the end of the world Pszczoła krąży nad kwiatem nasturcji, A bee is hovering over a nasturtium flower, Rybak naprawia błyszczącą sieć. A fisherman is mending a shimmering net. Skaczą w morzu wesołe delfiny, Happy dolphins are jumping in the sea, Młode wróble czepiają się rynny Baby sparrows are clinging to the gutter I wąż ma złotą skórę, jak powinien mieć. And a snake has golden skin, as it should do.

W dzień końca świata On the day of the end of the world Kobiety idą polem pod parasolkami, Women are walking across fields under umbrellas, Pijak zasypia na brzegu trawnika, A drunk is falling asleep by the kerb, Nawołują na ulicy sprzedawcy warzywa Vegetable sellers are calling in the street I łódka z żółtym żaglem do wyspy podpływa, And a yellow-sailed boat is returning to the island Dźwięk skrzypiec w powietrzu trwa The sound of a violin is hanging in the air I noc gwiaździstą odmyka. Opening a starry night.

A którzy czekali błyskawic i gromów, And those who expected lightning and thunder Są zawiedzeni. Are disappointed. A którzy czekali znaków i archanielskich trąb, And those who expected signs and archangel trumpets Nie wierzą, że staje się już. Do not believe it is happening now. Dopóki słońce i księżyc są w górze, As long as the Sun and Moon are above, Dopóki trzmiel nawiedza różę, As long as a bumblebee visits a rose, Dopóki dzieci różowe się rodzą, As long as pink babies are born, Nikt nie wierzy, że staje się już. No one believes it is happening now.

Tylko siwy staruszek, który byłby prorokiem, Only a grey-haired old man, who would be a prophet, Ale nie jest prorokiem, bo ma inne zajęcie, But is not a prophet for he has other work to do, Powiada przewiązując pomidory: Is saying while tying up tomatoes: Innego końca świata nie będzie, There will be no other end of the world, Innego końca świata nie będzie. There will be no other end of the world.

Translated by Czesław Miłosz Patrick Lynch

‘Piosenka o koncu swiata’ from OCALENIE © 1945 by Czeslaw Milosz. All Rights Reserved

Patrick Lynch’s commentary

My first attempt to translate a Polish poem To take part in the competition I have promise nothing but peace. Only the ‘grey- happened during an interview for a place chosen a poem by Czesław Milosz, ‘A Song haired old man’ understands the concept of at Oxford University. When I found out on the End of the World’. Although written death and that it will arrive for everyone at about the competition, I jumped at the idea in 1945 it is still an immensely powerful and any point in time. I’ve taken from this poem of having another go at translating, this visionary image of a society and its individ- not only the idea of an apocalypse but also time in a more relaxed setting and with uals – that one can see among us every day. a moral rule. A rule on how to live wisely, more time. To warm myself up I had a go The poem refers to The Apocalypse of St. and what attitude is needed when faced with at the poem I was asked to translate during John, through its title and repetition at the the world. According to Czesław Miłosz, it the interview, namely ‘Lesson on silence’ end of the poem. The comparison between is necessary to have an awareness of death by Tymoteusz Karpowicz. And then an apocalypse and everyday life is striking, and accept what is inevitable. Only in this something amazing happened: I started notably because none of the poem’s charac- case will man overcome fear and calmly to discover the beauty and emotions that ters are aware of the inevitability of death. focus on everyday life. poetry can evoke. I was hooked. The observations of everyday activities

32 The Stephen Spender Trust

The Year in Review and it has been a pleasure to work with 2020 marks ten years since the Stephen translators and poets across the world to Spender Trust began to run education pro- develop our Virtual Creative Translation grammes, with the launch of ‘Translation project. When this year’s Prize was Nation’. While we haven’t been able to launched in April, we also launched a celebrate this anniversary quite as we new resources hub [multilingualcreativ- would have liked, this year has seen great ity.org.uk] and YouTube channel for the progress in our work with young people. Trust, with resources including video masterclasses, live-illustrated poems, and Why translation? short films of poets reading their work. Translation is a unique and highly interac- Aware that young people cannot always tive way of introducing diverse texts to the access international poetry easily, and that classroom, and brings with it a host of ben- this was especially challenging during the efits for young people. As you translate, school closures of 2020, we also published you both comprehend the original text multilingual booklets of poetry in fourteen and re-imagine it in another language: you languages. are therefore simultaneously reading and We’re looking forward to developing writing, decoding and creating. Creative these resources in 2021, along with a new translation fosters intercultural interest Stephen Spender – poet, critic, remote training course for teachers across and understanding, while revealing the editor and translator – lived from the country. workings of language and the mechanisms 1909 to 1995. Inspired by his of storytelling. It is a thrilling, collabora- Stephen Spender Prize 2021 tive, creative process that gives pupils an literary interests and achievements, As we look ahead, we’re especially excited exciting linguistic experience in the here the Stephen Spender Trust was set to be working with poet and translator and now, rather than telling them that up to widen appreciation of the Sascha Aurora Akhtar, who will curate the language-learning will be rewarding for literary legacy of Stephen Spender new Urdu Spotlight in 2021. Our multilin- their future careers. and his contemporaries and promote gual poetry booklets for next year’s Prize Through the Stephen Spender Prize literary translation. will focus on South East Asian languages. since 2004, and our education pro- We look forward to working with more grammes since 2010, SST has celebrated teachers, translators and poets as together international poetry, multilingualism and establishes year-long partnerships between we inspire ever increasing numbers of language-learning through translation. translators and teachers at primary, young people to read and translate poetry secondary, and supplementary schools in from across the world. Creative Translation in the Classroom Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The Over the past two years we have integrated Stephen and Natasha Spender first year of the scheme saw translators run the Stephen Spender Prize more closely Stephen and Natasha Spender’s manu- workshops on translating comics, picture with our education programmes. ‘Creative scripts, letters, diaries and other personal books, plays, and poems. Through the Translation in the Classroom’ aims to papers are available to readers in the programme, we aim to build a legacy of embed creative translation into school University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. creative translation activities and multilin- curricula, making it an integral part of A House in St John’s Wood, Matthew gual storytelling in our partner schools, teachers’ educational practices. Following Spender’s intimate portrait of Stephen and to publish the resulting lesson plans, a pilot in 2017–18, the three-year pro- and Natasha Spender (William Collins, videos and worksheets for teachers across gramme (2019–22) was developed with 2015), draws on his personal memories and the UK to use. funding from the Rothschild Foundation unpublished material found in the north and Polonsky Foundation. The Stephen Virtual Creative Translation London house his parents had rented since Spender Prize takes centre-stage as a focus Each year we aim to reach more teach- 1941. It supplements Stephen Spender’s of motivation and aspiration for the young ers and to empower them to integrate New Selected Poems (ed. Grey Gowrie, people taking part, and each year includes creative translation into their teaching. Faber, 2009), his New Collected Poems a focus on one community language. To this end, in 2019 we began to develop (ed. Michael Brett, Faber, 2004), the New These languages are also highlighted in virtual resources in addition to our in- Selected Journals (ed. John Sutherland the Stephen Spender Prize with a special school workshops. We could not have and Lara Feigel, Faber, 2012) and John ‘Spotlight’ category. imagined how relevant and necessary Sutherland’s authorised biography of Creative Translation in the Classroom­ these resources would become in 2020, Spender (Penguin, 2005).

For more information about the Stephen Spender Trust and its activities, please visit www.stephen-spender.org or email [email protected]

33 The Stephen Spender Trust

Patrons Kate Clanchy mbe Lady Antonia Fraser cbe Lord Gowrie pc Tony Harrison, David Hockney ch Christopher MacLehose cbe Wole Soyinka Matthew Spender Philip Spender Richard Stone obe Sir Tom Stoppard om cbe John Sutherland

President Sir Michael Holroyd cbe

ADVISORY COMMITTEE Sarah Ardizzone Michael Englard Professor Warwick Gould Joanna Hunter Professor Karen Leeder Caroline Moorehead cbe Saskia Spender Tim Supple Harriet Harvey Wood OBE,

TRUSTEES Libby Attwood Ben Bransfield Jonathan Heawood (Chair) Isabel Lucena Alastair Niven

Cover image © the Estate of Humphrey Spender