Exile and Arrival is part of a showcase weekend at the National Centre for Writing in Norwich, kick-starting the Poetry Translation Centre’s 20th birthday year of celebrations. Throughout 2024, the PTC will be running events and workshops around England, open to all… 

It is a pleasure to feature this showcase weekend in Norwich, as that is my local city and I am always happy to promote and feature local events.

THURSDAY 21ST MARCH 

Living in Language: World Poetry Day with Yang Lian & Mohan Rana

The Poetry Translation Centre celebrates World Poetry Day with the launch of Living in Language, a ground-breaking anthology of lyric essays, fragments, letters and new poems from 21 poets from around the world. 

Yang Lian was one of the original Misty Poets who reacted against the strictures of the Cultural Revolution. His work was criticised in China in 1983 and formally banned in 1989 when he organised memorial services for the dead of Tiananmen while in New Zealand. He was a Chinese poet in exile from 1989 to 1995, and now lives in Berlin. In 2020 he won the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation.

Mohan Rana is a Hindi poet raised in Delhi who now lives in Bath. He has published ten poetry collections in Hindi and has performed widely internationally. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. 

Brian Holton has won prizes for his poetry and for his translations in Scots and English: he and Yang Lian won the 2020 Sarah Maguire Prize for Anniversary Snow. He has also translated Yang Lian’s Venice Elegy (Edizioni Damocle, 2019), and his Narrative Poem (Bloodaxe Books, 2017).

FRIDAY 22ND MARCH

Voices in Exile: An Evening with Maura Dooley, Azita Ghahreman & Elhum Shakerifar

A bilingual evening of poetry with Azita Ghahreman, one of Iran’s leading poets, with her translators Elhum Shakerifar and Maura Dooley, hosted by George Szirtes. 

Azita Ghahreman is an Iranian poet, writer and translator who has lived in Sweden since 2006. Azita is the author of six poetry collections and three short story collections, and her writing has been translated into 13 languages. Her selected poems, نگاتیو یک عکس دسته جمعی or Negative of a Group Photograph (Bloodaxe/PTC, 2018), were translated by Elhum Shakerifar and Maura Dooley. In 2024, her essay ‘A City Called Exile’ (translated into English by Alireza Abiz) appears in Living in Language published by the PTC. 

Elhum Shakerifar is a poet, essayist and translator, most recently PEN Award-winning, Warwick Prize-nominated Negative of a Group Photograph by Azita Ghahreman, translated alongside poet Maura Dooley (Bloodaxe Books, 2018). In 2022, she was one of Writerz & Scribez’ inaugural poetry Griots and she was a Visible Communities resident at the National Centre for Writing in 2023. Elhum is also a BAFTA-nominated producer and curator working through her London-based company Hakawati (‘storyteller’ in Arabic). www.hakawati.co.uk

SATURDAY 23RD MARCH 

Translate Farsi Poetry with Elhum Shakerifar -Translation offers a new perspective on language and culture. At this unique Farsi poetry translation workshop, the group will start with a rough guide translation provided by Elhum Shakerifar, and work towards a translation that works as a poem in English, guided by experienced poet-facilitator Helen Bowell. Polylingual Poetry Open Mic – This will be a night dedicated to opening up the Hall to the voices of Norfolk. The Poetry Translation Centre are looking for poems written in all languages, from Arabic to Zapotec.

To find out more please visit this link Exile and Arrival: Poetry Translation Centre’s 20th Birthday Showcase in Norfolk | Poetry Translation Centre