The AALITRA Review 6 (May 2013)
Justin Clemens,Testimony, Theory, Testament: On Translating François Villon
An exploration, analysis and translation of François Villon’s enigmatic and captivating “Ballade des dames du temps jadis” which argues that a careful interpretation of the poem’s deployment of proper names is able to articulate something essential about the relations of enjoyment, not-knowing, language and death that are at the heart of the translation of poetry more generally.
Ali Alizadeh, Six Vowels and Twenty Three Consonants: On Translating an Anthology of Persian Poetry
This article examines both the pleasures and the perils of (co-)creating an anthology of Persian poetry in translation. It illuminates our understanding of the opportunities as well as the potential problematics of the current translational turn in contemporary poetry.
Simon West,“As If We Were God’s Spies”: Poetry out of Nothing
An examination of analogies between the writing of poetry and its translation through two conceptions of creation, that of the hero who summons his poetry out of the void, and that under the auspices of Lucretius, whereby the poem is a composing of preexisting materials.
Jan Owen,Translating Baudelaire
Translator and poet Jan Owen discusses her approach to translating a selection of poems from Baudelaire’sLes Fleurs du Mal. As well as a description of many aspects of the translation process, this article includes a translation of “Unecharogne” (“A Carcass”).
Alice Whitmore,Four Poems by Yaxkin Melchy
This article introduces English-language readers to the work of a young poet active in an online community of writers and artists based in Mexico City. Alice Whitmore describes Yaxkin Melchy’s remarkable and innovative writing, and presents her translation of four poems from the collection Los Planetas.
The AALITRA Review (ISSN 1838-1294) is a peer-reviewed online journal established in March 2010 by the Australian Association for Literary Translation (AALITRA), a national organization that promotes an interest in all aspects of literary translation. Appearing twice yearly, the Review publishes high quality material concerned with literary translation, as well as translations of literary texts from other languages into English or, in exceptional cases, vice versa. We also accept proposals for Special Issues. We are now considering submissions for our next issue. Articles and translations, prepared according to the Guidelines for Contributors, should be sent to Brigid Maher (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). For more information, please visithttp://aalitra.org.au/the-
