Hugo Claus in Photographs
In the office, we're getting excited about the upcoming November publication of Even Now, selected poems of Hugo Claus, defly translated from the Dutch by David Colmer. In anticipation, here are some photos, courtesy of De Wolken: Uit de geheime laden
Celebrating Erasure I: Mary Ruefle
Kazimir Malevich. Suprematist Composition: White on White. 1918 We're a big fan of erasure here at Archipelago: the deliberate censoring of certain words of text to reveal a new meaning. The new creation combines literature with visual arts and can also
Authors and Their Pets
Bronwen Durocher leads us on an exploration of authors and their pets: Whether he or she serves the author on the page or in their laps, animals (and the pet, in particular) have long been central to the comfort and inspiration
Head of Emotional State
It's always a surprise when presidents or kings or prime ministers or otherwise powerful heads of state reveal a poetic side. Sometimes it's laughable, but other times -- considering they were probably busy dealing with things like the defeat of
Translating the Internet: A Collaboration
Luis von Ahn, inventor of the security feature CAPTCHA and the project Duolingo, proposes a mass translation of the internet, via outsourcing: Okay, so there's a lot of things to say about this question. First of all, translating the Web. So
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