[Adam Elgar]

Torment, martyrdom, self-sacrifice in a mighty cause, ultimate transfiguration.... if any of these are your thing, then join the Eratosphere Translators in celebrating International Translation Day!

Wednesday 30th September is the Feast of St Jerome, the Patron Saint of Translators.
As far as I know, he didn’t live an especially miserable life, or die a memorably horrible death, but that needn’t stop us – and there are quite a few people (given his misogynist views, most of them are women), who think it might have been a good thing if he had.

So to commemorate the pain and glory of the translator’s art, we invite Sphereans to step

OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE (© Marion Shore)

Take a poem you never would've thought of translating, something completely different from what you usually do -- style, poet, language, etc. You might even try translating from a language you don't know, using a crib and/or getting help from an expert. Live dangerously!

Send your work to me by PM for posting anonymously in the Translation Forum, the object being to try to guess the translator of each one. (Veterans will remember we did this under Ms Shore’s Reign of Terror, and it turned out very well.) The fact that everyone is still reeling from the exertions of the Bake-Off will add appropriate anguish to the martyrdom.

Let’s aim to have all offerings up for view on the Great Day – so you have one month for inspiration to strike! Or rather, please get them to me – whatever your time zone – by end of play on Sunday 27th September, and I’ll do my utmost to have them all ready for our Patron Saint’s perusal on his day.

Editing in to say: please include a literal prose version as well as the original text.

Good night and good luck
Adam