Letter from George Elliott Clarke with Chinese Translation by Anna Yin

 

 

My friends–and comrade poets/translators:

Anna Yin’s editorship of Mirrors and Windows (just published), an INTERNATIONAL anthology of poems that she has translated from English into Chinese and from Chinese into English is a landmark–an exquisitely rendered, intellectual/artistic touchstone–for the continued conversation between English (Canadian) poets and those of China that she has been singlehandedly enhancing (on the Canadian side) for at least a decade now.

Anna’s Poundian contribution to our mutual enrichment is graced spectacularly by poet-publisher Michael Mirolla of Guernica Editions, who not only agreed to publish this significant volume, but has graced it with a memorably elegant, yet plain cover–like the moon-over-water that so besotted Li Po. Once again, Guernica has served notice that it is an international heavy-hitter.

We are so lucky to have this unprovincial press in our literary culture–just as we are lucky to have the pioneering, cosmopolitan sensibility of Anna Yin uniting Occident and Orient via East-West Poems in Translation (which is the subtitle).
Not to be political, I will say that I think this kind of outreach and intellectual community is urgently needed at a time when anti-Asian racism has reared its very ugly head and also at a time when Western vs. China/Russia rivalry has given rise to some pseudo-warmongering, particularly from the West.

But I don’t stress that. I stress that this book is a fine achievement. Please consider ordering copies. AND let us extend this model to other translation anthologies of other Canadian ‘multicultures.’

Blessings to Anna & Michael!

Triumphant creativity to us all!

–GEC

George Elliott Clarke
4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15)
7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada (2016-2017)

 

朋友, 诗人和翻译同仁,

安娜主编的《镜子和窗户》(刚刚出版)这部东西诗及译诗选是英译中,中译英的一个里程碑,一个精心演绎的、智慧和艺术的试金石。是她至少有十年的(在加拿大方面)英语(加拿大)诗人与中国诗人之间持续对话的一种坚持。

安娜的庞德式的奉献推进了东西文化的彼此丰富相互弘扬,得到诗人兼出版商、格尔尼卡出版社的迈克尔-米罗拉强力支持,他不仅同意出版这本重要的书,并且为它设计了令人难忘的优雅而朴素的封面– -就像让李白深爱的月之于水面。格尔尼卡再次展现一个国际重量级作品。

我们非常幸运,我们的文坛中拥有无边界的出版社–正如我们很幸运,拥有安娜的先锋性、世界性的《东西方诗歌翻译》把西方和东方结合起来(这是副标题)。

我不是要讲政治,我想说的是,我认为在反亚裔种族主义抬头的时候,在西方与中国/俄罗斯的竞争已经引起了一些伪战争主义,特别是来自西方的战争主义的时候,这种外联和知性的互通是迫切需要的。

但我并不强调这一点。我强调的是,这本书是优秀成果。

请考虑订购。让我们把这种模式扩展到加拿大 “多元文化 “的其他翻译选集。

祝福安娜和迈克尔!

祝愿我们所有人都能获取创造力的胜利!

乔治·艾略特·克拉克
第四届多伦多桂冠诗人(2012-15)
第七届加拿大国家桂冠诗人(2016-2017)
                                                                                   (trans by Anna Yin)

 

Poetry and Translation with Anna Yin, I am nobody, 星子有话说– 诗歌创作和翻译漫谈

湖畔沙龙:诗歌创作和翻译公众讲座 (7月17日, 2021)
主讲诗人:星子安娜 主持: 诗人古土。
分享加拿大双语诗歌创作/出版/翻译等经验以及有关轶事。

Hu Pan School invited Anna Yin to share her processes of writing poetry and translating poetry. Host: Poet Gu Tu (诗人古土)Speaker: Anna Yin (Language : Chinese)

George Elliott Clarke Presents 5 Poets Breaking into Song

A night with poetry, music and songs by 5 poets, 4 composers and 2 singers with former Canadian Poet Laureate and wide audience!

The Poets: Ayesha ChatterjeeGiovanna Riccio, Lisa Richter, Andrea  Thompson, Anna Yin

The Composers, Singers, & Pianist: Emily HiemstraDavid Jaeger, Juliet Palmer, James Rolfe, Karen Usha, Gao Yuan, Mark Harry,

Hosts: George Elliott Clarke and Yang Wang (May 14, 2021)

Thank Sponsors: George Elliott Clarke, League of Canadian Poets, East and West Learning Connections.

Read the beautiful summary by George Elliott Clarke

Comments from others

【海外詩粹】星子安娜譯作精選|鏡子與窗戶

WePoetry 【海外詩粹】2021-01: a special issue of poetry and translation from 《Mirrors and Windows/镜子与窗户》(includes 36 accomplished English-language poets’ work with Anna’s Chinese translation, and 20 skilled Chinese-language poets’ work with Anna’s English translation)

 

2021, Oct (Guernica Editions)

安娜詩譯中精選出來的四位詩人有著各自不同的詩路詩風和彼此無法替代的語言特質:莫莉詩歌中格律有致的古體詩範,莫里茨詩歌中略帶哀傷的迷幻詩境,愛麗絲的個體至愛於宇宙星體間的微妙關係,喬治與先人的對望中,極富哲理性的思索。安娜的翻譯都將其中的詩眼一一細緻地勾勒了出來。

而在整個翻譯過程中,安娜不僅是一個忠實的讀者,也展現了她的詩人本質。因為唯有好的詩人才能將詩之聲韻氣息、重音低調把握得如此恰到好處。也唯有
好的讀者才能把自己藏身到原作者的語境中去思考,把原詩中的精魂邀了來,到譯本中作客讓兩個代表不同文化的靈魂成為朋友,還原和傳遞最本真的詩歌意涵,而這才是安娜以為的最有意義的事了。正如她在英文詩歌所寫道的:
「現在我看著葉子和果實,
石子和星辰,
每一個都是一首新詩。
我也咬到了它多汁的果實。」
就此而言,無論是“被迫”還是自投“詩歌”這張大網的,只要樂而為之,並把他們當成一門藝術,一門學問,
並且持之以恆地去做,都會結出好的果子來的。
 Vivian雯 2021/01/10 於紐約

Video for Poetry in Translation (4)/George Elliott Clarke and Anna Yin

George Elliott Clarke and Anna Yin discussed poetry, translations and life experiences with writing poetry related to political issues, difficult history and identity etc. They also shared the view of poets laureate’s role for politics.

The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke is a revered artist in song, drama, fiction, screenplay, essays, and poetry. Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960, Clarke was educated at the University of Waterloo, Dalhousie University, and Queen’s University. Clarke is also a pioneering scholar of African-Canadian literature. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has taught at Duke, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and Harvard. He holds eight honorary doctorates, plus appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada at the rank of Officer. His recognitions include the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry,, the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award.

Back to the series of the events

Poetry in Translation /East Meets West (Ongoing…)

A series of online events focus on poetry and translation by reading and discussing original poems then translations between poets and translator.   The poets are George Elliott Clarke, Molly Peacock, Alice Major and A. F. Moritz, and the translator is Anna Yin

Each session lasts 90 minutes and involves one English-language poet and the Chinese translator to discuss techniques and adaptability required and close-reading poems of different styles and subjects.

Oct 3, 15:00-16:30 the group session on Zoom -a summary with the above poets and open mic

Molly Peacock’s latest poetry collections are The Analyst and Cornucopia: New and Selected Poems.  She is the series founder of The Best Canadian Poetry and the co-founder of Poetry in Motion on New York’s subways and buses.  Her poems appear in leading literary journals such as Poetry, The Malahat Review and The Hudson Review, and are anthologized in The Oxford Book of American Poetry. Author of a one-person play about poetry, The Shimmering Verge, she is working on Form with Feeling, a collection of essays.

A. F. Moritzis the 6thPoet Laureate of Toronto. His most recent books are As Far As You Know (2020) and The Sparrow: Selected Poems (2018), both from House of Anansi Press. In 2015, Princeton University Press republished his 1986 volume in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, The Tradition. He has published nineteen books of poems, and several volumes of poetry translated from French and Spanish. His poetry has received the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award in Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Beth Hokin Prize of Poetry magazine, and other awards.

Alice Major‘s 11th poetry collection is “Welcome to the Anthropocene”. published by the University of Alberta Press. Science has been a source of inspiration for much of her work, including an award-winning collection of essays: “Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science.” Alice served as the first poet laureate for her home city of Edmonton and her honours include an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Alberta. www.alicemajor.com

 

 

The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke is a revered artist in song, drama, fiction, screenplay, essays, and poetry.  Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960, Clarke was educated at the University of Waterloo, Dalhousie University, and Queen’s University.  Clarke is also a pioneering scholar of African-Canadian literature.  A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has taught at Duke, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and Harvard.  He holds eight honorary doctorates, plus appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada at the rank of Officer.  His recognitions include the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry,, the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award.