[Adam Elgar]

Calling all translators!

International Translation Day is coming around again. The feast of Saint Jerome, our patron, is on September 30th, and we aim to celebrate the occasion with a guess-the-translator event. Last year we emulated the pains of martyrdom by requiring participants to work on a language outside their normal scope. That particular torment can feature again this year too, if wished – why not, if it’s good for our souls? –
But by popular consent the specific theme for 2010 is the translation of poems by women.
And since, as an ancient Church Father, Jerome was a hideous misogynist, what better way to take revenge than by celebrating the achievements of women as poets?

This is how it will work:

Any time during the first four weeks of September, PM or email me as many translations as you like of work originally by women, which I will post on ITD itself, September 30th. Please include the original text and a prose crib – and if the original is in a language with a non-Roman script, a transliteration would be helpful too.

First off, I post only the translation with no names of original poet or translator, or indication of original language. We comment on the quality and interest of the poetry and speculate for a day or two.

Then I post the original and crib, but withhold the translator’s name a bit longer. Cue expressions of amazement, linguistic quibbles, further speculation....

Then there’s a vote for best 3, and finally the translators are revealed to universal astonishment and admiration.

There is no screening process and no external judging. All comers are welcome.

My email address is aethelgar (at) gmail.com – or PM if you prefer.

We had a lot of fun last year. The more entries the merrier.
I hope that members who specialise in earlier centuries will not be disadvantaged by this year’s theme, and will be able to move into different territory, or unearth some little known women writers from the far past.

[AZ Foreman]

What about poems where the gender of the author is unknown but commonly presumed by scholars to be female?

[Adam Elgar]

I think we can give them the benefit of the (female) doubt - attrib. fem. is fine!

[Seree Zohar]

universal indeed!

If I find anyfink in Strine from a Crocodoil Dundette, I'll do that!

[Adam Elgar]

good on yer Seree - poetry's strictly for Sheilas anyway...

[Petra Norr]

What about a male poet with long hair? Will that suffice?
I love the idea of only translating poems by women, but as far as I can make out, there are virtually no female formal poets in Europe. Now that's a slight exaggeration, but not really when you consider that for every female formal poet you find, there are about 500 male ones.
But shed the formal attire, of course, and there's women as far as the eye can see. Free verse abounds with females. Now if only I liked translating free verse... (-:
--
PS: If anyone wants to discuss (after the event, I guess) what it's like to hunt for females in the world of formal poetry, and -- *gulp* -- the character and content of the poetry you find, I'll be happy to oblige.

[Adam Elgar]

I think the more discussion the event generates, the better - during, before or after.
Petra, this is a very interesting - if demoralising - discovery. Are women so anti-formalist?
What do they say about this at Formalista? or at Mezzo Cammin?
Nothing to stop us formalising a free verse poem...... or two... or twelve.

[Seree Zohar]

Petra - part of the fun of this event is to *gulp!!* move out of yr comfort zone. So, yeah, translate some FV or other stuff.... why not?

[Petra Norr]

Well, I don't want to be naughty and say right out why we don't see much formal poetry by women. But let's just say that up in northern climes female formal poetry is full of elves. A male poet will in fact put a troll in a poem now and then, and as with Fröding, give it a clever twist. But you seldom see cute elves running around in male poetry. Another big topic among female poets is God (how does that mix with elves, btw?). Then we have the usual: summer, nature, love -- all in rather pale, unmale, shades. The nice thing is, it doesn't look like female formalists revel much in nationalistic, patriotic poems -- which is one of the worst trends among male poets (depending on the time period, of course).
Free verse? I just tried out a free verse poem; I liked the poem in original, but it didn't work out for me in English. And the biggest reason is that the poem had no rhythm. And that's a real conflict. Maybe a free-verse poem has a bit of rhythm in original, but that rhythm, of course, goes right out the window when you're translating. Would I put a free-verse into formal verse? I've always heard that's a big No-No, though the opposite is done all the time.

[Julie Steiner]

A little inspiration for the stumped:
Wikipedia list of female poets

(You can access poets by language at the bottom of the page; ought to be a way to compare the two and retrieve "female poets Korean" or what have you. Or you could just search.)

And don't forget that song lyrics are poems, too. Plenty of female songwriters out there...

Happy hunting!

Edited to say: there's mention of several female Classical/Hellenistic Greek (and one Latin) poets in this review:
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-11-05.html