Calvin Bedient on Conceptualism in Boston Review
Illuminating and sharp article from Calvin Bedient in the Boston Review against conceptualism in poetry: Poetry is accustomed to being berated for having too much of this or too little of that, come back when you are classical, baroque, romantic, avant-garde, or postmodern,
Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator” – Part III
A final look at Walter Benjamin's "The Task of the Translator." If you haven't already, check out Part I & Part II. For the great motif of integrating many tongues into one true language is at work. This language is one
Comparing Cavafy’s "The City"
[ from Stahis Orphanos's MY CAVAFY which pairs Cavafy's poems with contemporary portraits ] I just came across this article about comparing translations of Constantin Cavafy's "The City", and thought I would throw a few more ideas and translations of the last stanza into the
Cortazar on Play
For me, literature is a form of play. But I’ve always added that there are two forms of play: football, for example, which is basically a game, and then games that are very profound and serious. When children play, though
Translation: The Facts
A few facts about translation through the ages, from our intern Alison Silver: The word “translation” Derives from the Latin for “the carrying from one place to another.” Classical: 300-200 B.C.E. First major translation in Classical World was Septuagint (pre-Christian translation of
Rodin on the Artist in Nature
Gustav Klimt, Bauernhaus mit Birken, 1900 To any artist, worthy of the name, all in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, fearlessly accepting all exterior truth, read there, as in an open book, all the inner truth. – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor
Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator” – Part II
Continuing our series on Walter Benjamin, Eric selects certain passages from “The Task of the Translator” and relates them to our work at Archipelago: Translation is so far removed from being the sterile equation of two dead languages that of all literary
James Baldwin on Film Adaptations
[scene from "Decasia" ; image courtesy of University of South Carolina Moving Image Research Collections/Icarus Films] Now, obviously, the only way to translate the written word to the cinema involves doing considerable violence to the written word, to the extent, indeed, of
WHAT I’M READING I: Murder, Axolotls, and Soviet Blocs
An axolotl: one of the creatures in Caspar Henderson's The Book of Barely Imagined Beings [image courtesy of http://southerncrossreview.org ] Every so often, we'd like to share some of our book recommendations around the office. For the first installment, Florence fills us in on
Announcement of upcoming events for Landscape with Yellow Birds
Archipelago Books is delighted to announce an exciting event series for José Ángel Valente’s Landscape with Yellow Birds, with readings by the translator Thomas Christensen Please join us for our upcoming events: A reading, lecture and Q&A at George Washington University, Washington D.C. September 25th at