Translating The Sahara Testaments

As many things in life translating The Sahara Testaments by Tade Ipadeola happened by circumstance and coincidence. He was due to be the PEN-Flanders guest in spring. For an obscure reason he didn't get a visum from the Belgian embassy. Yet Sven Peeters who was to interview him was all prepared and asked me to translate two poems, which I did. I began thinking and thought our guest should be able to read more poems so I asked Sven if he had any more poems by Tade. I could not have foreseen that then Sven mailed be a pdf file called The Sahara Testaments, containing 200 poems, all quatrains (you remember: four lines) and a fixed rhyme scheme in the greatest majority of them. I looked at it, thumbed through it, fell for the rigorous work (although I am usually a free verse poet) and translate one more, and then an other one. I love the desert. My desert is the Mojave Desert in California and Arizona. A high desert mostly rocky, and here and there an area with sand dunes. Nothing like the vastness of the Sahara being a continent on its own. When Tade arrived  at the flat we met and talked poetry and translation and I translated a few more poems for the two performances we had in the framework of The day of the writer in prison. Too many, although they may count them lucky not to have been killed like happens all too often in South America. Working together was fun and my PEN colleagues suggested I translated the whole book.  Now it is essential to know that he was the recipient of the Delphic Laurel in Poetry. 200, two hundred poems... Delphic Laurel in Poetry is only the biggest, most important poetry prize in Africa. I am still a bit intimidated by the task, yet some poems give them easily in Dutch, others are recalcitrant and I have to be very careful with them, peeling of layer, after layer until the also become a poem in translation.

I am very grateful for the time Tade grants me when I have a question or can't find a reference. When words have several meanings, I don't try to guess what connotation he had in mind but just ask him. His response is always kind, to the point and very helpful. If I don't understand what is meant, I cannot translate it. And although Tade's poetry is highly formalized, it flows as if effortless. The grand gift with this translation is that I get to see the world and the African continent, through the eyes of a keen African observer, in a way rereading history from a different perspective. I am now over halfway through in a first draft. I'll be asking a mutual friend to go through the text with me to catch mistakes, stupid or inelegant constructions.

Struggles and solutions of an aging hippie blogger

When my new laptop came, my daughter did a great job transferring my data and explaining a few things on the way to new bliss on the new machine. So, yes a I struggled a bit, mainly with google.
I may not have found the most logical solution, but in the end found my way around to be able to work on my blog again. I have now two English spell checks (US and GB) and can start working again. I guess that when I started thanks to Fiona, who then had a marvelous, very literary blog, in 2007, I wasn't aware of the addictive aspect of this kind of writing. I have refrained to ever write about myself: there was activism, travelogue, poetry, cultural events were written about: music, book presentations, theater, films (the last one being Tierra Roja, really a must see movie!). Sometimes just musings, art, friendships... So I am wondering where my laptop will take me this time around. This kind a writing seems to be a necessity for me.
By the way, Rose Vandewalle's bilingual book Zwanenzang/Swansong is getting real nice reactions from readers. The presentation of the book will be August 27, in the literary café den Hopsack in Antwerp. If you're around come by and have a good time! The book really looks great and the kind reactions of friends warm our heart.
So this is a new start. See you soon.

A Sherman Alexie translation in Dutch has a presentation date

Sherman Alexie is a very special poet. He covers a wide range of forms. From his four first poetry books, all published by Bob Hershon's Hanging Loose Press, I made choice while reading them, translating one, then another one... When Face came out I was stunned... Fibonacci poems, poems with just one end rhyme ... I never found a solution for those technical problems. The choice out of the four first books however will be published in English and in Dutch by Leo Peeraer from Uitgeverij P. October 2nd will be the presentation in the "Black Panter Gallery" in Antwerp at the same time as the presentation of Lucienne Stasssaerts translation of André Chedid. We will interview and introduce each other.

Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff

Whenever I stay in Chloride Arizona I make it a point to do the three hour drive to visit the Museum of Northern Arizona. That is not a punishment since I always drive the Route 66 then: Kingman, Hackberry, Seligman, sometimes a stop at Williams... This museum just as the Hopi Watchtower on the rim of the Grand Canyon and the Winslow train station "La Possada" where all build by Mary Jane Colter. She used natural materials and thus kept in tone and feeling with the surroundings. her buildings always make me feel good... The collection of the Museum of Northern Arizona is fantastic and I always find books in the museum shop.
Now this museum has been awarded the 2015 National Medal for Museum and Library service. One cannot get a higher honor for libraries and museums. In the whole of the US only 10 institutions receive this medal each year.

La Tierra Roja

I was lucky enough to be invited by a friend to go to the avant-premiere of La Tierra Roja, directed by Argentinian Diego Marinez Vignatti. The male lead was Geert Van Rampelberg and the female lead Eugenia Ramirez. Geert Van Rampelberg is Belgian. He was invited for the role for which he had to learn Spanish which he did in a relatively short time and although he told  the audience at the end that he was worried about playing in Spanish, since it felt foreign to him, just a different feeling as if some one else was mouthing what he said. I understand the lure of this movie. The main theme is how the paper industry. Ouch! As a writer I use a lot of it, printing out drafts; no I can't do it right on the screen alone:-(. The deforestation, the devastation of the tropical forests mainly done by fumigating, spraying agrotoxic substances and insecticides which make people and animals sick. The peaceful protest by locals is violently squashed, killing. This in order to be able to plant miles and miles pine trees, a softer, fast growing "crop" for which the century old trees like sequoias have to go. Having walked an a Sequoia forest, having felt the presence of history and impressed by their beauty, the subject was close to my heart. The performances are absolutely fabulous. Go see this film: La Tierra Roja is strong, it is true, it will move you.

See the trailer here

Swansong by Rose Vandewalle

Here you see the wonderful book, by Rose Vandewalle. The poetry in it spans three decades: 1982-2012. dodopres, Roses publisher since a real long time was kind enough to publish this bi-lingual poetry book. Rose is a longtime friend, loved by all and appreciated by even more people. She has a loyal group of readers and is respected by many poets.

It is always a challenge to publish a translation. When Bert Jans from dodopres first saw the book with her Dutch lyrics next to my translation he wondered whether an English version could add anything at all... Yet after reading the book through he wrote us that indeed there was this extra value of having a double reading. Knowing Rose real well and having worked together with her often, I knew she would pick up any mistake, or inelegant solution. The book is warm, a heartfelt image of family life, of the city of Antwerp, pain when her mother got Alzheimer, helping me when my mother dementia... And still the strength, the optimism, the honoring of friends, warmth in a loving relationship, life in all its aspect that is what you'll read in this book. 300 books as the first edition is a nice start. Thank you dodo-pers for a job well done, and Rose thank you... The presentation of this book will be July 27, in Den Hopsack, in Antwerp...

Al die zo mooie mondaine vrouwen

als ze elkaar ontmoeten

komt er een explosie

van hello en ça va en salut

adders van ah’ s en oh’ s

en ondertussen hebben ze mekaar

bekeken en betast

met hun vele diamanten vingers

dat spiegelpaleis gooi ik aan diggelen

en bevrijd mijn kraaienpoten-ik

*

All those so pretty worldly women

when they meet each other

follows an explosion                

of hello and ça va and see you

vipers of ahs and ohs

and in the mean time they have

scrutinized and fingered each other

with their multi diamond digits

that mirror palace I smash to smithereens

and liberate my crowfeet-me

* * *

Onvoorspelbaar

zijn vrouwen

als wolken

vliedend en vluchtig

zwaluwen doorkruisen

aldoor hun geest

ze buitelen en gieren

bereiken nooit grond

verhuld en versluierd

zijn vrouwen

verteerd door het vuur

niet te vatten

als water

glijdend door handen

*

Unpredictable

are women

cloudlike

fleeing and fleeting        

swallows constantly

cross their minds

they tumble and shriek         

never come down to earth         

disguised and veiled

are women

consumed by fire

beyond grasp

like water

gliding through hands

Zwanenzang - Swansong by Rose Vandewalle

Rose writing in Dutch and the Dutch-English version being published by Rose's longtime publisher Dodo Press in the Netherlands makes me  inclined to post the press release in Dutch.

This is the press release of the Dodo Press announcing proudly Zwanenzang/Swansong, a selection of poems spanning Three decades (1992-2012).
The English version is by Annmarie Sauer.
We all love Rose here in Antwerp, as a person and as a poet. Poetry came to her and we do share some poets cherished by both of us: Marsman, Paroles by Prévert, Brel...
Here the complete pressrelease in Dutch:
 

Met gepaste trots melden we de uitgave van Zwanenzang/Swansong, een selectie gedichten (1982 -2012) van Rose Vandewalle met naast elk gedicht een voortreffelijke vertaling naar het Engels van Annmarie Sauer.

Rose Vandewalle heeft meerdere bundels op haar naam, zoals In haar zak een doek van staal, Laat de klok met rust en Verwaaid.

‘Vandewalle slaagt erin die taal te vinden die recht doet aan haar oorspronkelijke manier van waarnemen. Want in de eerste plaats is ze de betrokken waarnemer met oog voor het schijnbaar onbeduidende detail. (Rosa)

In kleine kring wordt ze als dichter gewaardeerd. Zwanenzang/Swansong geeft een prachtig overzicht van haar gedichten in een tijdspanne van dertig jaar. De meerwaarde in de vertaling van Annmarie Sauer is, dat ze erin is geslaagd om taaleigen poëzie van Vandewalle in het Engels te volgen, zonder dat de taalsfeer ervan verloren gaat.

Rose Vandewalle:

De poëzie is zelf naar me toegekomen, niet andersom. Op een dag heeft ze me overrompeld. Grootsch en meeslepend wil ik leven! hoort ge dat, vader, moeder, wereld, knekelhuis! Dat was Marsman. Ik was er toen dertien. Later werd ze me aangereikt door een lerares Frans. Ze las ons voor uit ‘Paroles’ van Jacques Prévert. Ik raakte hierdoor compleet van de kaart. Begin jaren zestig liep ik journalistenschool te Brussel. Ik wou schrijven, journalistiek was - denk ik nu – niet meer dan een alibi. Kreeg er les van Jan Walravens (schrijver en essayist), dat was een man om nooit meer te vergeten. In 1966 vertrok ik voor een jaar naar de V.S. (Louisville, Kentucky). Er broeide van alles in die tijd. Ik las veel, Truman Capote en Henry Miller en keek naar kunst, Andrew Wyeth. Terug

in België kwam de poëzie naar me toe via Léo Ferré (zijn interpretatie van Baudelaire, Rimbaud en Aragon) en natuurlijk ook via die zeer authentieke Jacques Brel. Zelf publiceerde ik voor het eerst in de vroege jaren tachtig. Een van mijn bundels draagt als titel Laat de klok met rust, ontleend aan een vers van Maurice Gilliams, een dichter die me intuïtief sterk aanspreekt net als Vasalis dat doet. Naar haar poëzie grijp ik terug.

Over de laatste bundel ‘Verwaaid’:

‘De dichter ziet de neergang aan, in het besef dat er tegen het naderend verval, het naderend einde, geen kruid gewassen is. Tegen beter weten in wil ze zich daar niet bij neerleggen. Wanhopig zoekt ze naar sporen die nog getuigen van wat ooit was. De personages die worden opgevoerd zijn dolenden tussen de flarden van hun verleden (Bert Jans).’

‘Door de fijnbesnaarde toon, de lichtheid van haar woorden, de transparantie van de gekozen beelden komen de woorden nooit over als zwaarmoedig. Ze bewegen tussen eb en vloed, licht en duisternis, vorm en vormeloosheid en laten zich niet meteen vangen (Hannie Rouweler).’

Annmarie Sauer bij haar vertaling van ‘Zwanenzang’:

‘Het is een waar genoegen de gedichten van Rose te vertalen: menselijk, schrijnend, lichamelijk, prachtig, invoelend... boeiend, zachtaardig en soms boos, als Rose zelf.’