Best Poetry Translation Centre Podcasts (2024)

1
Bridging The Gap # 28: Jon Langford... 2:18

7d ago2:18

2:18

••• Zahra Glenda Baker, a Chicago vocalist, storyteller, and artist, has a question for Jon Langford, a Chicago-based Welsh rock musician, writer, producer, and artist... ••• Jon Langford is a Chicago-based Welsh rock musician, writer, producer, and artist. He is the founder of several diverse bands, including The Mekons and The Waco Brothers. He i…

1
Question for Wayne Garner: “How indigenous is your music?” 2:35

21d ago2:35

2:35

Wayne Garner is a Cherokee singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and writer. Born and raised within Native American communities of Eastern Oklahoma, he has maintained a deep connection with his homeland, his people and their struggle. Wayne and his band spent several years touring the US, putting out 2 albums with several charting hits, which garnere…

1
Bridging The Gap # 27: Question for Esther Allen, an American author, professor, and translator... 4:21

27d ago4:21

4:21

Bridging The Gap # 27: Question for Esther Allen, an American author, professor, and translator of French and Spanish... ••• Ellen Jones, a British literary translator from Spanish to English, editor, and occasional writer based in Mexico City, has a question for Esther Allen, an award-winning American author, professor, and translator of French an…

1
Bridging The Gap # 26: Question for Crisosto Apache, an award-winning Native American poet... 2:19

1M ago2:19

2:19

Bridging The Gap # 26: Question for Crisosto Apache, an award-winning Native American poet... ••• Topher White, a National Geographic explorer, conservation technologist, and founder of Rainforest Connection, has a question for Crisosto Apache, a Native American (Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua Apache, and Diné) poet,teacher, and advocate of the indig…

1
Question for Sara Calvosa Olson: “How visual is your cooking?” 3:43

2M ago3:43

3:43

Sara Calvosa Olson (Karuk) is a food writer and editor living in the Bay Area with her husband and two sons. Her work focuses on the intersection of storytelling, indigenous food systems, security, sovereignty, reconnection, and recipe development. She is a Karuk asiktávaan (woman) and táat (mother) of two sons, and she grew up in Salyer and Hoopa,…

1
Bridging The Gap # 25: Jim Shaw has a question for Arielle Vakni and Hattie Lee Mendoza... 1:04

2M ago1:04

1:04

Bridging The Gap # 25: Jim Shaw, an American artist based in Los Angeles, has a question for Arielle Vakni, a vocalist, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist and music teacher, based in Taos, New Mexico, and Hattie Lee Mendoza, a member of the Cherokee Nation whose art is inspired by her native ancestry, but also by a rural Kansas upbringing, based…

1
Bridging The Gap # 24: Question for Lucky Salway, a Tohono-Oodham / Oglala-Lakota artist... 3:08

2M ago3:08

3:08

Bridging The Gap # 24: Question for Lucky (Luck) Salway, a largely self-taught multidisciplinary Tohono-Oodham / Oglala-Lakota artist, designer, lyricist, and muralist... ••• Amy Juan, a Tohono O'odham cultural activist, has a question in Tohono O'odham and English for Lucky (Luck) Salway, a largely self-taught multidisciplinary Tohono-Oodham / Ogl…

1
Bridging The Gap # 23: Question for Dorianne Laux, a multiple award-winning American poet… 3:21

2M ago3:21

3:21

Bridging The Gap # 23: Question for Dorianne Laux, a multiple award-winning American poet… ••• Jim Bachor, a graphic designer and mosaic artist based in Chicago, Illinois, has a question for Dorianne Laux, a multiple award-winning American poet, based in Richmond, California… ••• Dorianne Laux is a multiple award-winning American poet. She has rece…

1
Bridging The Gap # 22: Question for Vincent Schilling, an Akwesasne Mohawk author and journalist… 5:12

3M ago5:12

5:12

Bridging The Gap # 22: Question for Vincent Schilling, an Akwesasne Mohawk author, public speaker, and journalist… ••• Eric J. García, a multidisciplinary artist and political activist, has a question for Vincent Schilling, an Akwesasne Mohawk author, public speaker, and journalist… ••• Vincent Schilling, Akwesasne Mohawk, is an author, public spea…

1
Bridging The Gap # 21: Question for Arielle Vakni, a vocalist, songwriter, and music teacher… 1:44

3M ago1:44

1:44

Bridging The Gap # 21: Question for Arielle Vakni, a vocalist, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist and music teacher, based in Taos, New Mexico… ••• Karen Harryman, an American poet based in Los Angeles, California, has a question for Arielle Vakni, a vocalist, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist and music teacher, based in Taos, New Mexico… ••…

1
Queer Digital Residency Podcast Pt1: Translation and the Queer Super Hero 35:57

10M ago35:57

35:57

Join the PTC's Partisipation Producer Bern Roche Farrelly and one of our Queer Digital Residency translators Jon Herring for a wide ranging conversation about getting started in translation, the interplay between linguistics and transition and , of course, a discussion of queer readings of DC superhero. Who else remembers Chris O'Donnell's robin? B…

1
Desire Poems by Women Poets 21:10

2+ y ago21:10

21:10

Right now in April 2022 the PTC has just released our latest World Poets Series Book ‘To Love a Woman’ by Argentinian poet Diana Bellessi, translated by Leo Boix. So this week we are taking a little thematic inspiration and playing you four poems about desire written by female poets. You will hear 'Make Me Drunk with Your Kisses' by Maria Clara Sha…

1
Three Poems By Diana Anphimiadi 14:34

2+ y ago14:34

14:34

Today’s podcast is dedicated to the poetry of Georgian Poet Diana Anphimiadi. Thanks to our working relationship with the translator Natalia Bukia-Peters the PTC has been translating Georgian poetry since 2013 when two of Diana’s poems 'May Honey’ and ‘Tranquillity’ were translated at one of our collaborative workshops, then in 2018 Diana was part …

1
Poems for Births, Deaths and Marriages 22:09

2+ y ago22:09

22:09

Welcome to the Dual Poetry Podcast’s department of births deaths and marriages. Reflecting our remit, the department of births deaths and marriages will be playing you three poems reflecting these three themes: The Caesarean of Three Continents by Corsino Fortes from Cape Verde Death of a princess by Gaarriye from Somalia & the married woman by Ade…

1
Poems from the 30th Parallel North 24:51

2+ y ago24:51

24:51

The 30th parallel north links several countries represented in the PTC archive, Mexico, Morocco, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan Pakistan, India and China even glancing off the far south of the Japanese archipelago, sweeping between Tanega-shima and Sumanose-Jima, while totally avoiding Europe. Just like the PTC. So to close up 2021 this podcast is…

1
Nature Poetry and The Climate Emergency 14:05

2+ y ago14:05

14:05

This week the Dual Poetry Podcast is focusing on nature poems. In the shadow of the climate emergency poems about the natural world take on a new significance, so during the second week of the 2021 COP 26 conference in Glasgow we consider now contemporary poets are taking on and reshaping the traditional subject of nature. Setting aside red roses, …

1
Five Poems From Afghanistan 16:10

3y ago16:10

16:10

Dual Poetry Podcast is taking a look at Afghan poetry, with five poems from the PTC archive. We made this recording in September 2021, weeks after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Western forces. There is worldwide concern for poets, scholars and intellectuals still in the country, many of whom have publicly s…

1
Tajik Poetry: Flute Player and Must Escape by Farzaneh Khojandi 14:48

3y ago14:48

14:48

Born in the remote Khojand province of Tajikistan in 1964, Farzaneh Khojandi is widely regarded as the most exciting woman poet writing in Persian today and has a huge following in Iran and Afghanistan as well as in Tajikistan, where she is simply regarded as the country's foremost living writer. Her frequently playful and witty poetry draws on the…

1
Two poems by Mexican Poet Coral Bracho 13:51

3y ago13:51

13:51

On today’s episode, we are travelling again to Mexico to spend some time with the work of Coral Bracho, winner of the Aguascalientes National Poetry Prize in 1981 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. The PTC first published Bracho’s work in 2008 when she was part of our Mexican Poets Tour along with Victor Teran and David Hurta. Her work was transl…

1
'My Mother’s Language' and 'The Earth Opens and Welcomes You' by Abdellatif Laâbi 15:41

3y ago15:41

15:41

This week we are looking at the work of Abdellatif Laâbi, who is widely acknowledged to be Morocco's greatest living poet. This week the PTC publishes My Mother’s Language featuring a selection of Laâbi’s poems originally written in French with translations into English by the noted Poet and translator André Naffis-Sahely, who has just become the e…

1
Haft seen & Epitaph by Shakila Azizzada 11:13

3y ago11:13

11:13

Shakila Azizzada was born in Kabul in Afghanistan in 1964. She now lives in the Netherlands and writes in both Dari and Dutch. Her poems are unusual in their frankness and delicacy, particularly in the way she approaches intimacy and female desire, subjects which are rarely addressed by women poets writing in Dari. After working on the transitions …

1
'The North Wind Whips' and 'From The Palm Of My Hand' by Víctor Terán 13:54

3y ago13:54

13:54

With his work translated and anthologized around the world, Víctor Terán is the preeminent living poet of the Isthmus Zapotec. He was born in 1958. His work has been published extensively in magazines and anthologies throughout Mexico. Since 2000, he has also appeared in anthologies in Italy and the United States and he is a three-time recipient of…

1
The Story of Flying and The Story of The Poor by Salome Benidze 16:19

3y ago16:19

16:19

This week we are bringing you two poems in from a series by the Georgian poet Salome Benidze, The Story of Flying and The Story of the poor. Salome was one of two Georgian poets who toured the UK with the PTC in 2018 alongside Diana Amphidiadi. Benidze’s poems were translated by Natalia Bukia-Peters with the UK poet Helen Mort and we published a ch…

1
'In Your Own Words' & 'After Midnight' by Mohan Rana 10:28

3+ y ago10:28

10:28

In this episode of the podcast, we are looking at Hindi poetry. Late last year the PTC published two chapbooks in our World Poet Series featuring Hindi poets: The Cartographer by Mohan Rana and This Water by Gagan Gill. The poems you hear on today’s podcast are by Mohan Rana who lives in Bath, England and writes deceptively simple poems circling me…

1
Letters from Afar: Poems by Noshi Gillani & Kajal Ahmad 7:03

3+ y ago7:03

7:03

In this podcast, we bring you poems that take the form of messages from afar, the poets are addressing loved ones but communicating to the reader as well, the implied distance between the writer and the addressee standing in for personal and emotional distance. Kajal Ahmad was born in Kirkuk in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1967, Kajal Ahmad began publishing …

1
Dari and Farsi Poetry: Shakila Azizzada and Mohammad Bagher Kolahi Ahari 11:34

3+ y ago11:34

11:34

We start 2021 with two poets whose poems have narrative strands, one is a fairy tale complete with daemons and the other is a sketch of the life of an economic migrant who fears the host of his wife. Shakila Azizzada was born in Kabul in Afghanistan in 1964. During her middle school and university years in Kabul, she started writing stories and poe…

1
Three Poems by Najwan Darwish 10:04

3+ y ago10:04

10:04

Translated by Atef Alshaer with Paul Batchelor. This October the PTC published 'Embrace' a dual-language Arabic and English collection of poems by Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish, who has been called one of the foremost Arabic-language poets of his generation. This collection includes many new poems and was translated by Atef Alshaer with UK poet P…

1
Black History Month Podcast 12:55

4y ago12:55

12:55

Listen to two poems from the Poetry Translation Centre Archive: 'Taste' by Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf translated by Said Jama Hussein with poet Clare Pollard and 'He Tells Tales of Meroe' by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, translated by Atef Alshaer and Rashid El Sheikh with poet Sarah Maguire, selected for Black History Month. DEALS Our Black History Month bundle…

1
‘Poem of the Nile’ and ‘They Think I Am a King: Yes, I Am the King’ by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi 29:43

4y ago29:43

29:43

This week as part of the PTC’s Resistance Poets series we bring you two poems by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, a Sudanese poet who writes in Arabic. 'Poem of the Nile' was published in The London Review of Books one of the rare occasions the LRB has published poetry translated from Arabic and the first time they featured the work of an African poet. 'They Th…

1
'Drawing' and 'The Football' by Reza Mohammadi 10:02

4y ago10:02

10:02

Currently, the PTC is looking at Resistance Poets whose work is unafraid to tackle political issues. This week we are bringing you two pomes by Afghan poet Reza Mohammadi who writes in Dari. These were translated for the PTC in 2012 by Hamid Kabir and the Northern Irish poet, novelist and screenwriter Nick Laird. You can purchase the PTCs Reza Moha…

1
'To the Sycamore' and 'How African Spirits Were Born' by Ribka Sibhatu 21:22

4y ago21:22

21:22

Translator André Naffis-Sahely worked with Ribka Sibhatu for 10 years leading up to the publication of their PTC World Poet series book Aulò! Aulò! Aulò! While Ribka translates her own poems from Tigrinya and Amharic into Italian, Andre translates her poems from Italian into English and works tirelessly promoting her work in the anglophone world. I…

1
The Exact Number of Stars & My Abebà by Ribka Sibhatu 19:45

4y ago19:45

19:45

The PTC has just published Aulò! Aulò! Aulò! a collection of poems and fables by Ribka Sibhatu with translations by André Naffis-Sahely as part of our World Poet Series. Ribka writes in Tigrinya and Amharic, two languages native to Eritrea as well as Italian and French. The poet calls her five languages her stepdaughters. She translates her own wor…

1
The Law of Dynamics and Sucking the Stone by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 10:03

4y ago10:03

10:03

This week the podcast features two poems by Cuban poet Legna Rodríguez Iglesias, both from her 2013 collection Sucking The Stone. The first of these, The Law of Dynamics, sees the poet explaining to Galileo why he can't to the Macarena. (Why? Because it is 'a dance for Satyrs and other sex-mad creatures.') while the second poem, one of two in the c…

1
Farmer's Treasure and An accumulation of dry matter that is slow after flowering but intensifies during the lactic phase by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 8:13

4y ago8:13

8:13

This week we have two poems by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 'Farmer's Treasure' and 'An accumulation of dry matter that is slow after flowering but intensifies during the lactic phase' both from her collection Gimmer Spray. The exceptional skill and formal dexterity that marks Rodríguez Iglesias’s work in Spanish has been expertly brought to life in En…

1
The Good Life and Kabuki Theatre by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 11:33

4y ago11:33

11:33

Contemporary Cuban poetry is as diverse and indefinable as contemporary poetry in any other country, but Legna does belong to a particular generation of poets. Generación O, formed mainly of poets born after 1975, is founded on the shared experience of growing up after the fall of the Soviet Union, when Cuba was launched into extreme deprivation. T…

1
The Day I and Red Room by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 8:54

4y ago8:54

8:54

The Cuban poet Legna Rodríguez Iglesias was born in Camagüey in central Cuba in 1984 and currently lives in Miami, Florida. As well as poetry she has written theatre, short stories, children’s books and a novel. Her poetry has been translated into Portuguese, German, Italian and English. The DUAL POETRY PODCAST is focusing on her work for the next …

1
Pure Jazz and Maggot People by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 9:05

4y ago9:05

9:05

The DUAL POETRY PODCAST continues with its focus on the Cuban writer Legna Rodríguez Iglesias who burst onto the Cuban literary scene with all the ferocity of a stampeding elephant aged 19. This week we are bringing you two poems, Pure Jazz and Maggot People, that originated in her 2017 title Miami Century Fox, a collection of 51 Petrarchan sonnets…

1
I must ask you & Mad Dog Pack by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 5:40

4y ago5:40

5:40

This week's podcast brings you 'I must ask you' & 'Mad Dog Pack' both translated by Abigail Parry and Serafina Vick for Legna Rodríguez Iglesias' PTC publication 'A little body are many parts' which brings together poems from seven different collections of Legna's poetry. The collection has been shortlisted for the first annual Derek Walcott Prize …

1
Thirty heads a day & Graduate by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 7:12

4y ago7:12

7:12

This week the Dual Poetry Podcast is breaking its form to bring you two poems rather than one. 'Thirty heads a day' & 'Graduate' were both translated by Abigail Parry and Serafina Vick for the PTC publication 'A little body are many parts' which brings together poems from seven different collections of Legna's poetry. The collection has been shortl…

1
A Feather by Shakila Azizzada 4:05

4y ago4:05

4:05

This week's poem is by Shakila Azizzada from Afghanistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Mimi Khalvati and then in Dari by Shakila herself. Shakila has spent many years in the Netherlands and her poetry reflects both her Afghan heritage and her European influences. She also writes in Dutch and translates her own poetry both ways. …

1
My Voice by Partaw Naderi 3:03

4y ago3:03

3:03

This week’s poem is by Partaw Naderi from Afghanistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Dari by Partaw Naderi. Partaw Naderi studied science at Kabul University and was imprisoned in the notorious Pul-e-Charki prison by the Soviet-backed regime for three years in the 1970s shortly after he’d begun to write …

1
Spring by Reza Mohammdi 4:34

4y ago4:34

4:34

This week’s poem is by Reza Mohammadi from Afghanistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Sarah Maguire and then in Dari by Reza. The prize-winning poet, Reza Mohammadi - widely regarded as one of the most exciting young poets writing in Persian today - was born in Kandahar in 1979. He studied Islamic Law and then Philosophy in Iran …

1
Prayer Before Taking Nourishment by Diana Anphimiadi 5:18

4y ago5:18

5:18

This is one of two prayer-poems from Diana's PTC Chapbook 'Begining to speak' Diana Anphimiadi quickly distinguished herself as an unusually imaginative, original talent in the Georgian poetry scene. Her work refuses the formulaic or expected response, wrong-footing readers with its wit and delicacy. In her acclaimed 2013 collection, Personal Cuisi…

1
Aural by David Huerta 3:23

4+ y ago3:23

3:23

Today's poem is 'Aural ' by David Huerta from Mexico. The poem is read first in English translation by Jamie McKendrick and then in Spanish by the original poet. Also, this week we have details of the PTC's first-ever online workshop season looking at the work of Yoruba Poet & political activist Ọláńrewajú Adépọ̀jù. Sign up for these workshops here…

1
Empty Town by Yu Yoyo 4:02

4+ y ago4:02

4:02

This week's poem is 'Empty Town' by the Chinese poet Yu Yoyo. In her afterword to Yu Yoyo's collection My Tenantless Body the poet Rebecca Tamás notes that Yoyo's concerns are often the global, concerns of those whose future is at stake in an uncertain world. All this week the poet and artist Ella Frears is joining our PTC YouTube Takeover with a s…

1
Fertile Truce by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias 4:15

4+ y ago4:15

4:15

Today’s poem is Fertile Truce the title poem from Legna Rodríguez Iglesias’ 2012 collection. It was translated for the PTC in 2019 by the award-winning poet Abigail Parry and the Havana based writer Serafina Vick. The poem refers to the national flower of Cuba, the Mariposa or white ginger lily. Also in this poem, you will hear the use of the Engli…

1
Uniform by Karin Karakaşlı 2:46

4+ y ago2:46

2:46

here is a constant struggle in Turkey between being oneself and having to fit into a mould – a mould shaped by nationalistic values and imposed by a majority – which makes daily life extremely difficult for people who come from one of the many minority communities. This state of struggle and in-betweenness is described in the poem ‘Uniform’ – from …

1
Orphan by Asha Lul Mohamad Yusuf 9:13

4+ y ago9:13

9:13

This week’s poem is 'Orphan' by Asha Lul Mohamad Yusuf from Somalia/Somaliland. The poem is read first in English translation by Clare Pollard and then in Somali by Asha. Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf is a powerful woman poet in a literary tradition still largely dominated by men. She is a master of the major Somali poetic forms, including the prestigious…

1
To Catch Butterflies by Noshi Gillani 2:08

4+ y ago2:08

2:08

Translated by Nukhbah Langah and Lavinia Greenlaw. This week’s poem is by Noshi Gillani from Pakistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Lavinia Greenlaw and then in Urdu by novelist Kamila Shamsie. The candour and frankness of Gillani's highly-charged poems is unusual for a woman writing in Urdu and she has gained a committed intern…

1
Growing Up In Two Dreams by Bejan Matur 3:23

4+ y ago3:23

3:23

Bejan Matur is the most illustrious poet among a bold new women’s poetry emerging from the Middle East. Her poetry engages directly and concretely with the struggles of her people, and yet there is also a mysticism in her writing, a closeness to nature, an embracing of mythology – a dialogue with God. This poem and many others that appear in Bejan'…

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