Poetry translation in poet-advisor-poet trios: collaborative, cross-language and creative processes.
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Modern Languages
Abstract
Hearing and reading translated poetry opens audiences to new worlds of experience, gives poets fresh inspiration, and creates international communities of poets and poetry users. It dissolves barriers between cultures - crucial in a world that is ever more globalised, but also marked by misunderstanding between cultures. And producing translated poetry is a modest but important part of the cultural economy. Researching how experts translate poetry gives understanding of how these benefits come about, which can in turn improve practice. Existing research focuses on poetry translating by solo translators, who can read an original 'source-language' poem and convert it directly into a 'target-language' version. Increasingly, however, poetry is also being translated in collaborative workshops - but no systematic research has been done into how these operate. Hence our project aims to find this out by analysing the working processes and outputs of poet-advisor-poet trios (the most representative workshop format). Here, poems are translated by three people working face-to-face: the poet who wrote the source poem, a target-language poet (who does not know the source language), and a language advisor (who knows both languages).
We will set up two 4-day expert workshops, where 3 poets from the Netherlands and 3 poets from the UK, helped by 3 language advisors, will work in 3 simultaneous trios to translate each other's poems. Each workshop - one at Poetry International Rotterdam (the Netherlands' biggest poetry festival), and one at Newcastle University - will end with a public reading of poems and draft translations, and talks by participants. All poets are eminent, widely-published poets (most with translating experience), and all language advisors are experienced solo poetry translators. We will video all working discussions and written translation drafts, and hold videoed interviews with participants after each workshop.
These video recordings, once securely stored and transcribed, will form our raw research data. We will use them to draw a rich, multidimensional picture of how expert poet-advisor-poet trios work: what poems they choose to translate, the translation challenges they meet and how they solve them, interpersonal relations and talk patterns within working trios, what principles poets and advisors try to follow, and what motivates their work. We will also examine how trios tackle key poetry-translating issues, such as the tension between conveying a source poem's exact content and making the translation into a poem in its own right, and how far translators are willing to make creative changes to source-poem meaning.
Finding this out will increase knowledge of collaborative poetry translation, but also of poetry translation and experts' translation processes in general. We will communicate this to academic audiences via a monograph, academic journal articles and conference papers. The project will also benefit non-academic users: translations from the workshops will bring Dutch and UK poetry to new audiences; and project findings will generate guidelines for good practice, and will inspire and inform future poet-advisor-poet ventures. To enable this, poem translations and project findings will reach poets, translators and poetry audiences via reading events, poetry journals and artwork, websites, social media and professional translation associations.
This interdisciplinary project is led by a translation-studies scholar (Francis Jones, Newcastle University) and two poetry-writing scholars (W.N. Herbert and Fiona Sampson, Newcastle and Roehampton University), all specialised in poetry translating as translators and researchers, helped by two Research Associates. We will work closely with two project partners (Dutch Foundation for Literature and Poetry International Rotterdam), and two university research and public-outreach centres (Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts and Roehampton Poetry Centre).
We will set up two 4-day expert workshops, where 3 poets from the Netherlands and 3 poets from the UK, helped by 3 language advisors, will work in 3 simultaneous trios to translate each other's poems. Each workshop - one at Poetry International Rotterdam (the Netherlands' biggest poetry festival), and one at Newcastle University - will end with a public reading of poems and draft translations, and talks by participants. All poets are eminent, widely-published poets (most with translating experience), and all language advisors are experienced solo poetry translators. We will video all working discussions and written translation drafts, and hold videoed interviews with participants after each workshop.
These video recordings, once securely stored and transcribed, will form our raw research data. We will use them to draw a rich, multidimensional picture of how expert poet-advisor-poet trios work: what poems they choose to translate, the translation challenges they meet and how they solve them, interpersonal relations and talk patterns within working trios, what principles poets and advisors try to follow, and what motivates their work. We will also examine how trios tackle key poetry-translating issues, such as the tension between conveying a source poem's exact content and making the translation into a poem in its own right, and how far translators are willing to make creative changes to source-poem meaning.
Finding this out will increase knowledge of collaborative poetry translation, but also of poetry translation and experts' translation processes in general. We will communicate this to academic audiences via a monograph, academic journal articles and conference papers. The project will also benefit non-academic users: translations from the workshops will bring Dutch and UK poetry to new audiences; and project findings will generate guidelines for good practice, and will inspire and inform future poet-advisor-poet ventures. To enable this, poem translations and project findings will reach poets, translators and poetry audiences via reading events, poetry journals and artwork, websites, social media and professional translation associations.
This interdisciplinary project is led by a translation-studies scholar (Francis Jones, Newcastle University) and two poetry-writing scholars (W.N. Herbert and Fiona Sampson, Newcastle and Roehampton University), all specialised in poetry translating as translators and researchers, helped by two Research Associates. We will work closely with two project partners (Dutch Foundation for Literature and Poetry International Rotterdam), and two university research and public-outreach centres (Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts and Roehampton Poetry Centre).
Planned Impact
Poetry is a significant source of individual well-being, and is often a central element in how people define their culture and heritage; poetry publishing and performance also form an important sector of the cultural economy. Translating poetry extends these benefits across language cultures, and is a crucial pathway to inter-cultural understanding. With our project's poet-advisor-poet workshops, the expertise of those taking part (who are all eminent poets or experienced poetry translators) will almost certainly result in high-quality translations. Hence our project's first aim is to deliver these inter-cultural benefits directly, by bringing our project's poems and their translations to poetry audiences.
Moreover, this inter-cultural dimension lies at our project's heart, since its poet-advisor-poet translating method involves poets from different language cultures working with an inter-language and inter-cultural mediator (the language advisor). This gives the poet-advisor-poet translating method a special potential, which our research findings will define clearly. Hence our project's other aims are to communicate these findings, and guidelines on good practice arising from them, to poets and translators - and, no less importantly, to communicate them to organisations that promote and develop poetry and its translation. This will empower more poet-advisor-poet trios to deliver the benefits of poetry translation to more audiences, giving our project a much wider ultimate effect on poetry-translating and poetry-using communities worldwide.
Specific beneficiaries of our project's poems and translations, and of its findings and guidelines, are:
[1] Poetry audiences worldwide who know English or Dutch. They will hear and read poems and their translations from the project, delivered via live and web-streamed readings, and via paper and on-line poetry journals. This will enable them to enjoy the benefits of translated poetry mentioned above - and also to experience poetry translated from their own language into another.
[2] Poets who know English or Dutch (including the large community of world poets with English or Dutch as a second language). As part of the poetry audiences just mentioned, they too will hear and read poems and translations from the project. This will expand their cultural horizons by letting them experience new translated poetry, and - in some cases - inspire their own poetic work. They will also hear and read project reports and guidelines about poet-advisor-poet translating, which will accompany translation readings and translation journal features, and which will be posted on websites and via social media; and we will train some poets in poet-advisor-poet translating. This will inspire more poets to undertake poet-advisor-poet ventures themselves.
[3] Translators, including existing translators of poetry. Like poets, they will hear and read project reports and guidelines about poet-advisor-poet translating, and some will be trained in poet-advisor-poet translating. Our aim will be to help bring about a paradigm shift, from viewing poetry translation just as a specialist one-person venture (for the few who can translate a source poem directly into a convincing target-language poem), to viewing it also as a team effort where a translator works with poets. This will inspire more translators to join poet-advisor-poet ventures themselves.
[4] Organisations which promote poetry and its translation. Project staff will report project findings and guidelines to them, thus influencing the translation projects that they support and encouraging them to sponsor poet-advisor-poet ventures (or more such ventures). These organisations, plus translators' professional bodies, will also publicise project translations, reports and guidelines via their websites, social media and professional journals, ensuring that this project impacts on a worldwide community of poetry-users, poets and translators.
Moreover, this inter-cultural dimension lies at our project's heart, since its poet-advisor-poet translating method involves poets from different language cultures working with an inter-language and inter-cultural mediator (the language advisor). This gives the poet-advisor-poet translating method a special potential, which our research findings will define clearly. Hence our project's other aims are to communicate these findings, and guidelines on good practice arising from them, to poets and translators - and, no less importantly, to communicate them to organisations that promote and develop poetry and its translation. This will empower more poet-advisor-poet trios to deliver the benefits of poetry translation to more audiences, giving our project a much wider ultimate effect on poetry-translating and poetry-using communities worldwide.
Specific beneficiaries of our project's poems and translations, and of its findings and guidelines, are:
[1] Poetry audiences worldwide who know English or Dutch. They will hear and read poems and their translations from the project, delivered via live and web-streamed readings, and via paper and on-line poetry journals. This will enable them to enjoy the benefits of translated poetry mentioned above - and also to experience poetry translated from their own language into another.
[2] Poets who know English or Dutch (including the large community of world poets with English or Dutch as a second language). As part of the poetry audiences just mentioned, they too will hear and read poems and translations from the project. This will expand their cultural horizons by letting them experience new translated poetry, and - in some cases - inspire their own poetic work. They will also hear and read project reports and guidelines about poet-advisor-poet translating, which will accompany translation readings and translation journal features, and which will be posted on websites and via social media; and we will train some poets in poet-advisor-poet translating. This will inspire more poets to undertake poet-advisor-poet ventures themselves.
[3] Translators, including existing translators of poetry. Like poets, they will hear and read project reports and guidelines about poet-advisor-poet translating, and some will be trained in poet-advisor-poet translating. Our aim will be to help bring about a paradigm shift, from viewing poetry translation just as a specialist one-person venture (for the few who can translate a source poem directly into a convincing target-language poem), to viewing it also as a team effort where a translator works with poets. This will inspire more translators to join poet-advisor-poet ventures themselves.
[4] Organisations which promote poetry and its translation. Project staff will report project findings and guidelines to them, thus influencing the translation projects that they support and encouraging them to sponsor poet-advisor-poet ventures (or more such ventures). These organisations, plus translators' professional bodies, will also publicise project translations, reports and guidelines via their websites, social media and professional journals, ensuring that this project impacts on a worldwide community of poetry-users, poets and translators.
Organisations
- Newcastle University (Collaboration, Lead Research Organisation)
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (Collaboration)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- The Poetry Book Society (Collaboration)
- Poetry International Foundation (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Dutch Foundation for Literature (Collaboration, Project Partner)
Publications
Abiz A
(2021)
The Kindly Interrogator
Dhamac 'Gaarriye' MX
(2020)
Ask the Thunder (Onkodka Warayso)
Gelèns H
(2018)
Het poettrio vertaalexperiment [The poettrio translation experiment]
in Terras
Herbert WN
(2018)
On Menno Wigman
in Modern Poetry in Translation
Herbert WN
(2018)
Gedichten [Poems]
in Terras
Herbert WN
(2018)
So At One With You
Johnson RM
(2018)
Het PoetTrio-project [The PoetTrio Project]
in Terras
Johnson RM
(2017)
Activist publishers and institutions translate
in Versopolis: European Review of Poetry, Books and Culture, ed. F Sampson
Jones F
(2018)
Translators on National Poetry Day
in ITI Bulletin
| Title | Project Artwork Film |
| Description | The AHRC bid provided for a project artwork. Commissioning procedures are described under 'Engagement Activities' (Project Artwork Call). The commissioned piece was 'Alternating Currents - Transmissions from the North Sea', by composer and digital artist Martin Heslop. This is an innovative film work which features recordings of project source poems and their translations read by project poets, along with specially-composed music and visuals. A first version was presented at the Newcastle Poetry Festival in May 2018 (see 'Engagement Activities'). A revised and expanded version was posted on the project website and YouTube. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | This has increased audiences for the six poets featured, and has raised the profile for Dutch poetry in English. Its audiovisual format means it almost certainly reaches wider audiences (141 views by February 2020) than those normally reading poetry. |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ0_mlEMAVQ&t=135s |
| Title | Translated Poems |
| Description | The two translation workshops (see 'Research Databases') and follow-up email revisions generated Dutch translations of poems originally by the UK poet participants, and English translations of poems originally by the Dutch poet participants - 40 poems in all. For details of copyright on these translations, see 'Intellectual Property & Licensing'. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | Selections of the translations were read at the End-of-Workshop-1 event (Rotterdam), at the End-of-Workshop-2 event (Newcastle), and at the end-of-project National Poetry Day Translation Summit (London). Videos of readings from the Workshop 2 event were posted on the Project YouTube channel. This guaranteed a wide international audience. It also enabled them to inform the 76 proposals from international artists for the Project Artwork (see 'Artistic and Creative Products' / separate entry). Impact of the translation readings and artwork is further described under 'Engagement Activities'. One aim outlined in the bid was to publish the translations as creative/impact outputs. Translated poems plus essays about the poets and the project were published in: • the Dutch literary journal Terras • the UK literary journal Modern Poetry in Translation • the UK literary journal Poem, edited by project CoI Sampson. (See 'Publications' for details.) These informed a wider poetry-reading public about the value of collaborative poetry translation. They also gave the project poets an international audience, or broadened their already-existing international audience. Canadian/Romanian poet and translator Diana Manole used the descriptions and translations in Poem magazine to promote our project's work at readings and events in Canada. |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOv4CKamninPpjjaV5r3oxQ/videos |
| Description | Analyses are still ongoing as PI and CoIs write the monograph for Routledge. (Because participants came under increased university-teaching pressure, the manuscript delivery deadline has been extended till June 2021). Hence the findings below will evolve and deepen as analyses continue. A key important overall finding is that trio translation leads to effective target-language poems, which loyally reflect their source-language counterparts where possible. All our outputs, therefore, meet what most modern-day poetry translators, editors and readers would see as the key requirements for good poetry translations. This means that poems need not only be translated by a solo translator, who can both read a foreign language and write poetry. Collaborative translation involving a foreign-language expert and a poet can also work extremely well - especially if the source poet (as in our project) is also involved in translating. In terms of the project's research questions (RQs), so far we can report the following findings. RQ1 'What criteria do trios use when choosing poems to translate?' This is largely the target poet's responsibility, but is often negotiated with the source poet. A sense of poetic affinity with the source poet is crucial, though how 'translatable' the source poem appears is also a factor. RQ2 'What strategies do trio members use to tackle poetry translation's triple challenge - that of conveying (a) the source poem's semantic content and (b) its formal aspects (e.g. rhyme, word association and nuance), etc. in (c) an effective target-language poem?' Language advisors and target poets see it as crucial to understand the overall 'message' of the source poem in depth. That is, its wordings, nuances, and allusions - including allusions which are not evident from the text. Here, having the source poet present (especially face-to-face) is a key resource. Trios, as mentioned, then try to produce versions that are semantically close to the original whilst also being poetically effective. Only when it is not possible to do both (with wordplay or rhyme, for example) do they deviate from the original semantics. Then they rarely deviate very far, usually trying to stay faithful to the underlying message. Translating trios, therefore, appear at first sight to follow the strategies and norms observed for most solo translators (Jones 2011). This also reflects a powerful professional norm among translators in all genres: produce a target text which does what it needs to in the new context, but which also (where possible) reflects what the source text says. Some differences with solo translators, however, have emerged. One is a greater attention to poetic structure and effect. This is almost certainly because the key drivers of the trio translating process are published poets (which is not necessarily the case with solo translators). Another is that all trios use creative solutions that deviate from the literal (whereas only some solo translators do so). Such solutions are considered when a literal solution cannot convey either the poetic force of the original, or the full range of semantic and idiomatic meanings in a source word or phrase. RQ3 'What relative time do trios spend on key sub-aspects like word-choice, imagery or rhythm?' Here, discussions of lexical equivalence are crucial, as with solo translation. RQ4 'What principles and motivations do source poets, language advisors and target poets claim to follow, and what do they actually follow?' As mentioned above, the default working principle of trio members appears to be: translations should be effective target-language poems which remain loyal to the source poem where possible. Working directly with the source poet, however, strengthens the importance of source-poem loyalty for the other trio members. Participants' cognitive styles influence how they prefer to translate, ranging from more analytic (one step at a time, then see how it all fits together) to more holistic (broad sweep, saving details for later) - as with solo translators. This is unlinked to whether participants are poets or language advisors. RQ5 'What interactive patterns underlie trio discussions, and how far are they linked to participants' roles?' Initial analyses indicate that: #1 If participants in a trio have different cognitive and working styles, some negotiation may need to take place. #2 Most target poets 'lead' their trios, determining the trios' working direction. Once the target poet has established a source item's meaning in discussion with the source poet and language advisor, for instance, s/he takes responsibility for its target-language wording. Some target poets may also brainstorm solutions with the language advisor, whereas others prefer to call on the language advisor simply when more cross-language equivalents are needed. With hard-to-translate items, however, trios usually co-construct solutions interactively, though source and target poets make the final approve/reject decision. #2 The source poet is a crucial informant in the process. #3 The language advisor's skills of managing interaction, and of adapting to different requirements by the target poet, appear important for successful trio work: this is because his/her command of both languages makes him/her the link person between source and target poet. For example, if the language advisor and target poet are discussing target-language wordings and the source poet cannot follow the discussion, the source poet appreciates explanations from the language advisor. The source and target poet also appreciate a language advisor's ability to adapt to their preferred working styles - working analytically vs. holistically, or co-brainstorming target-language equivalents vs advising when asked. Target poets also appreciate language advisors who are able to leave target poets space to find their own solutions, but who are willing to co-brainstorm solutions when the situation requires it. |
| Exploitation Route | Once full analyses are published, others may well wish to explore what happens if this project's parameters are varied - e.g. examining other, culturally and linguistically more distant language pairs than Dutch-English. This project's findings would also help other researchers explore other modes of collaborative translation, in poetry or other genres. The PI and CoIs have already used this project's findings, particularly those around the role of the language advisor, to submit a bid for fresh funding that explores what happens when two poets co-translate without a language advisor. The new project, if successful, will also explore the wider social and creative-economy context of collaborative poetry translation: how publishers and festival organisers, for instance, regard collaborative poetry translation. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education |
| Description | Generators of present and future impact are listed under 'Engagement Activities' and elsewhere. To summarise: #1 The project website, YouTube channel, Twitter feed and Facebook page informed a large international audience about the project and about collaborative poetry translation, and heightened public attention for poetry translation. This laid a base for later impact. #2 The two end-of-Workshop public reading and discussion events did the same, but also generated impact directly: #2A The end-of-Workshop-1 event led to a commitment by a Dutch literary magazine Terras (see below) to publish an essay and translations from the workshop. This enhanced the international reputations of the UK poets featured, and the reputations of the Dutch poets and language advisors co-translating. It could well also encourage the trio method to be adopted by others in the Netherlands and Flanders. #2B The end-of-Workshop-2 event had artists, musicians, poets and translators in its audience. A call to submit pieces about collaborative translation for the event inspired many of them to incorporate collaborative translation into their own practice, as evidenced by their presentations. Evidence of the likely impact of the project's methods on audience members' future practice was also shown in feedback afterwards. #2C The end-of-Workshop-2 event also enhanced the reputation (and thus international impact) of the Dutch poets, and of Dutch poetry - but also of the project's UK poets and language advisors (translation professionals). The project YouTube channel, which broadcast this event and follow-up readings to a world-wide audience, almost certainly increased this reputational impact. #3 Reputational impact was strongly enhanced by publication of essays about the project and of translated poems in: • the Dutch literary journal Terras • the UK literary journal Modern Poetry in Translation • the UK literary journal Poem: International English Language Quarterly, edited by Project CoI Fiona Sampson. Terras is one of the Netherlands' leading literary journals. Modern Poetry in Translation and Poem are the two most important UK poetry journals that actively promote translated poetry. Terras and Modern Poetry in Translation, which have a strong web presence, also published translated poems and essays from the project online with open access, bringing them to much wider readerships. Translations of poems by the project's UK poets in Terras gained attention in Dutch literary circles, as shown in a leading Dutch journalist's reblogging, with positive comments, of a poem by Fiona Sampson. #4 Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA) was inspired by the end-of-Workshop-2 event to include a Poetry Translation Day at the heart of the NCLA's May 2018 Newcastle Poetry Festival. Plans for this poetry translation day formed part of the NCLA's successful bid for Arts Council funding (where our project's financial contribution leveraged matching Arts Council funding), and informed the project team's successful bid for Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Impact funding. The Poetry Translation Day's workshops and panels, closely based on the project and its findings, gave experience of collaborative poetry translation and information about the project to audiences. These consisted of a wide public interested in poetry, plus translators and poets, publishers and cultural-organisation leaders from across the UK and beyond. In questionnaires, workshop participants reported changes in attitudes to translation (e.g. "I prefer this collaborative approach") and in their own translating strategies (e.g. following the poem's "music on first hearing" rather than dictionary meanings). Very positive written reports on the panels and reading were given by translators, writers, editors (e.g. Penguin, and Arc Books, an important poetry publisher), and by representatives of leading cultural organisations (the British Council, and London Southbank Centre). #5 The Project Artwork call generated very wide interest for the project's methods among artists and musicians. These methods impacted on the work of the musician/film-maker who won the commission, but also potentially impact on others who submitted proposals. The Artwork itself, a film incorporating poems and translations from the project, almost certainly raised awareness of Dutch poetry, and of poetry translation, among a wide audience. #6 At the National Poetry Day Translation Summit, banners about the project, team members' talks and hands-on workshops communicated the project's methods and its findings to a wider public. This consisted of poetry translators and poets (ranging from novice to highly eminent), and leading enablers of poetry and literary translation: publishers, journal editors, leaders of European cultural institutes, and leaders of poetry translation projects UK-wide. All this raised the profile of the project as a key player in UK poetry translation. Readings of source poems and translations from the project further enhanced the international reputation of project poets - especially of the Dutch poets, as audience feedback forms showed. Reports on the Summit in the professional translation journals in UK and Canada (see 'Publications') brought the poet-advisor-poet method to a wide audience of translation professionals. #7 CoI Sampson has continued and enhanced her strong international profile as an eminent advocate of poetry in translation during this project, as testified by her many awards, editorships and places on editorial boards, fellowships, readings of her own poetry and other recognition. This profile has enabled her to communicate insights gained from the project to wide variety of international poetry-writing and poetry-translating communities, as well as applying them to professional practice. #8 CoI Sampson, CoI Herbert and PI Jones have led collaborative poetry-translation workshops with prestigious literary organisations (the British Centre for Literary Translation and the Poetry Translation Centre) and translation organisations (Institute of Translation and Interpreting). These workshops have enabled them to communicate the project's insights into translating practice to less experienced practitioners, and stimulate the participants' future practice. Via resulting blogs and engagement events, the value of poetry translation was conveyed to much wider national and international audiences. Herbert's and Jones' Creative Critical Writing workshop also inspired participants to use collaborative approaches in future translating and creative writing. The same holds for Jones's upcoming workshop for professional translators with the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. #10 Other engagement activities (e.g. CoI Sampson's and RA Johnson's appearance as panellists at the 2017 Newcastle Poetry Festival and the English PEN International Translation Day respectively, team members' lectures about the project, etc.) generated interest in the project and poetry translation. They also informed a wider poetry-reading public about the value of collaborative poetry translation. #11 The workshops created professional links between Dutch and UK poets that had not existed before. #12 Herbert and Sampson continue to apply insights from the project to their own collaborative translation practice - especially in the translations of Sampson's own poetry. #13 PI Jones's and CoI Herbert's MA module on collaborative poetry translation (started 2020, repeated in 2022 and 2023) communicates the project's translating techniques and findings to poets and translators taking higher-level training. Participants report that they would use the project's techniques in their future poetry-writing and translating practice. #14 The Project has helped develop sustainable poetry-translation networks lasting beyond the AHRC project. The two 'Spin-Off Poetry Translation Projects', in each of which a poet and language advisor from the AHRC have translated poems by the poet, gave further experience in collaborative poetry translating for the poets and language advisors, and have enhanced (or will enhance) the poets' international audiences. Jones continues (2021-23) to work with the Dutch Foundation for Literature on poetry translation projects. And Herbert's collaborative translation with Abiz (see 'Publications'), produced using insights from the AHRC project, was published by Shearman, whose editor attended our International Translation Day event. #15 A journal article and two workshops for the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (the most recent in 2021) communicated project findings and insights to professional translators. #16 Besides the specific outputs and events mentioned here, the three project investigators remain active and publishing in poetry and translation. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Arts Council England grant (poet-to-poet creative translation) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | A participant from the British Centre for Literary Translation's International Summer School, on which Sampson teaches, has been awarded an Arts Council England grant to work with Sampson as mentor for 9 months on 'poet-to-poet' creative translation of contemporary German women poets' work. This involves transmitting and developing insights gained in the 2016-18 AHRC project. |
| Description | Somali poetry translation |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | In 2018, CoI Herbert co-edited and introduced a volume of contemporary and modern Somali poetry, 'So At One With You' (see 'References'), commissioning essays on translation and context from the leading translator and practitioners, and conducting translation workshops producing new work for the anthology. Insights from the PoetTrio project governed how CoI Herbert conducted the workshops and informed the editing process in a direct manner, as poets were introduced through the Poetry Translation Centre in Deptford to untranslated originals in a language they did not understand through the use of literals and discussion. (The Poetry Translation Centre is a leading UK organisation that promotes the translation of poetry through collaborative workshop methods.) Similarly, considerations of cultural translation (which were important in the present project) underpinned decisions to select, edit, gloss, and introduce the poetry. The anthology also included ungathered translations from Somali poets produced in collaboration with CoI Herbert. The anthology was launched at the Somali Week Festival in London, introduced by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and will feature at the 11th Hargeysa International Book Fair in Somaliland. The launch was attended by hundreds of members of the Somali community in the UK, and similar numbers are anticipated in Hargeysa. |
| Description | Bid Preparation Fund, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Amount | £4,518 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Newcastle |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | Australia |
| Start | 10/2018 |
| End | 01/2019 |
| Description | Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Impact Fund |
| Amount | £3,530 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 05/2018 |
| Title | NVivo Coding Frame |
| Description | In order to analyse the transcripts of trio translating sessions and interviews, we developed a complex coding frame within the NVivo software suite, which enables multi-level coding and analysis of qualitative datasets. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a powerful analytic tool like NVivo has been applied to translation process data. Among the various types of categories ('nodes') in the coding frame are translation-process 'foci' (e.g. Lexis, Rhythm), project research questions, trio roles (e.g. Source Poet, Language Advisor), language direction (Dutch to English or vice versa), and interactional moves. This enables both quantitative analyses (e.g. establishing which type of participants talk most), and rich, multi-level qualitative analyses (e.g. analysing how source poets' input varies according to the topic of conversation). |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Details of the frame have already been published along with findings (e.g. Lobejón Santos & Jones, in press 2020). As publications continue (e.g. Herbert, Jones and Sampson, in progress: see 'Publications'), we expect this to have a further strong influence on research methods in translation process research. |
| Title | Workshop Raw Data |
| Description | We first ran a pilot study, with one poet-advisor-poet trio (Dutch to English). We then ran two 3½-day poet-advisor-poet translation workshops: #1 English to Dutch: Poetry International festival, Rotterdam (29 May - 2 June 2017); #2 Dutch to English: Newcastle University (16-20 July 2017). In each workshop, three Dutch poets, three UK poets and three language advisors worked in trios to translate poems by the source poet into the target language for three days, with next-day revision. Trio configurations changed each day. Participants were interviewed about translating processes at the end of each working day. A final plenary discussion session followed on the fourth day. One Dutch poet was prevented from participating in Workshop 2. However, she participated by Skype on one workshop afternoon. Later, she came to Newcastle University for a 1-day follow-up workshop with two UK poets and a language advisor (21 September 2017), and then had a final Skype session with the third UK poet plus language advisor. All translating processes and plenary discussions were video- and audio-recorded, and then transcribed. Interviews were audio-recorded, and then transcribed. In the 18 trios over the two workshops, 40 poems were translated. Total 'tape time' is over 100 hours. We how have the following linked datasets, securely stored on the Newcastle University server (see bid Technical Plan): #1 Videos of trio translating processes and plenary sessions. #2 Audio recordings of trio translating processes, plenary sessions, and interviews. #3 Transcripts of trio translating processes, plenary sessions and participant interviews in Microsoft Word and NVivo format (see 'Research Databases & Models'). #4 Still photographs of selected participant interactions. #5 Photographs or PDFs of interim paper draft translations, plus Word versions of end-of-workshop translations. #6 Summary quantitative data for all 18 trios. #7 Full quantitative and qualitative coding data for all interviews. #8 Full quantitative and qualitative coding data for 7.5/18 translating sessions. # 9 Overview reports for 12/18 translating sessions. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | For impact of interim findings, see 'Other Outputs and Knowledge / Future Steps'. |
| Description | AHRC 'Translating Cultures' Theme |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The AHRC 'Translating Cultures' Theme, coordinated by Charles Forsdick at Liverpool University, explores "how languages, values, beliefs, histories and narratives can be shared and understood across different cultures and contexts". Association with our project (see below) has enhanced the scope of the AHRC theme. Translating Cultures also commissioned and will host two outputs highlighting the project (see below). |
| Collaborator Contribution | As our project is closely aligned to the AHRC theme, Translating Cultures will feature our project in the 'Outcomes' below. |
| Impact | • "Collaborative Poetry Translation": an entry for the Theme's online "Translating Cultures: a Glossary". This will make readers think more positively about collaborative translation as viable poetry-translating method. And it will hopefully inspire some of them to translate collaboratively for the first time. • "Alternating Currents": a description of our project video artwork, with a URL link to the artwork, for the Theme's online "Objects in Translation: a 'Translating Cultures' Exhibition". This will bring our artwork to a wider audience, and increase public interest in poetry translation as a creative art-form. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Dutch Foundation for Literature (DFL / Nederlands Letterenfonds) |
| Organisation | Dutch Foundation for Literature |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| PI Contribution | The Dutch Foundation for Literature (DFL / Nederlands Letterenfonds: http://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/) is one of our bid's two Project Partners, and one of the four main collaborators in the Pathways to Impact. It is the Dutch government funded body tasked to support Dutch literature in the Netherlands and abroad, especially via translation. Many of our project impact activities have furthered this aim, by publicising to English-speaking audiences the work of the three Dutch poets who are project participants. See below and 'Engagement Activities' for details. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The DFL gave crucial input into the project's design. Before the project started, the DFL helped set up initial links with our other project partner Poetry International Rotterdam (see separate 'Collaborations and Partnerships' entry) - and, with PIR, advised on the choice of Dutch poets. After the project started, the DFL gave key advice to the project research team, especially on matters concerning the Dutch poets. The DFL also kindly agreed in the bid to co-fund the project's Newcastle data-gathering workshops (see 'Research Databases and Models' for details). The DFL funded two Dutch poets' flights to Newcastle for main workshop (July 2017), and part-funded the third Dutch poet's flight to the follow-up workshop (September 2017; the rest was paid for by AHRC bid funds vired from savings elsewhere). The DFL also funded English interlinear guides to six of the nine Dutch poems per poet that were translated at the Newcastle workshop. |
| Impact | #1 A well-attended public reading event of the three Dutch poets' work in Dutch and English at Newcastle University marked the end of the project's second translation workshop. See 'Engagement Activities' for details. #2 Subtitled videos of the poets reading (or their translations being read) during and after the event were placed on the project YouTube channel, with a link from the project website. See 'Engagement Activities' for details. All events (like the project as a whole) are multi-disciplinary, at the interface of poetry writing and translation studies. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Institute of Modern Languages Research |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Our project enriched IMLR's portfolio of events and interests, increasing its reputation as a major outreach hub for research and practice in modern languages and writing. Our particular contribution was the highlighting of translation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | IMLR hosted our end-of-project event "National Poetry Day Translation Summit" (see 'Engagement Activities'). They helped the project team to set up the day, find a central London venue, and to publicise the event, ensuring a good turnout. |
| Impact | National Poetry Day Translation Summit (see 'Engagement Activities'). Multi-disciplinary: translation studies and poetry writing. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA) |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Department | Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla/) is a Newcastle University research centre aimed at promoting public understanding of literature. It is one of the four main collaborating bodies mentioned in the project bid. Contributions: #1 Our project has helped NCLA to promote public understanding of poetry in North-East England and beyond. It has done so via the public end-of-Workshop-2 event, via the project website, and via the project YouTube channel's videos of poetry readings and discussions from Workshop 2 (see 'Engagement Activities' for details). #2 NCLA organises the annual Newcastle Poetry Festival. Our project inspired NCLA to include a Poetry Translation Day in the May 2018 Festival (see 'Engagement Activities'), which was co-organised by and prominently featured our project. This day supported the NCLA in several ways. It helped the NCLA's successful bid for UK Arts Council funds to enable the Festival to take place. The day's success boosted the success of the Festival, and thus the prestige of NCLA as the North-East's leading literary organisation. Financially, the project team made two contributions to the poetry translation day: AHRC project funds earmarked for NCLA services within the bid (£2100), plus most of an Impact Fund grant (£2747) from Newcastle University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (see 'Further Funding'). The AHRC project fund contribution also enabled NCLA to leverage matched Arts-Council funding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts played three roles in the project. #1 An NCLA colleague gave key advice on organising Project Workshop 2 at Newcastle University (see 'Research Databases and Models'), and on the public end-of-Workshop-2 event (see below, and 'Engagement Activities'). NCLA also helped promote the event via Twitter. #2 NCLA gave key advice on commissioning an innovative artwork linked to the project, and NCLA Director Sinéad Morrissey helped project team members choose the winning entry (see 'Engagement Activities' and 'Artistic & Creative Products'). #3 NCLA put the project at the heart of the NCLA's May 2018 Newcastle Poetry Festival, co-organising with project RA Johnson the Poetry Translation Day which prominently featured the project (see 'Engagement Activities'). This was a major source of impact and public engagement for the project. NCLA colleagues also advised on the Faculty Impact Fund bid (see 'Further Funding'), which helped fund our presence at the Poetry Translation Day. |
| Impact | #1 A successfully organised Workshop 2: one of the project's two data-gathering points, as outlined in the bid (see 'Research Databases and Models' and 'Engagement Activities' for details). #2 The poetry translation day at the Newcastle Poetry Festival, which highlighted the project to a wide public (see 'Engagement Activities'). The whole collaboration (like the project) is multi-disciplinary, at the interface of poetry-writing and translation studies. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Poetry Book Society (PBS) |
| Organisation | The Poetry Book Society |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We worked with the PBS on planning and running the translation day at Newcastle Poetry Festival (see separate entry). Working with us helped gain wider publicity for translated poetry - a key element of the PBS's book offer. It also enabled the PBS to make good book sales on the day. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The PBS helped us organise and run the translation day at Newcastle Poetry Festival. Their publicity networks helped us get a very good-sized audience (88) for a mid-week daytime poetry event. They also live-tweeted and instagrammed the event to over 30,000 followers. |
| Impact | Newcastle Poetry Festival event: see separate entry. Multi-disciplinary: translation studies and poetry writing. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Poetry International Rotterdam (PIR) |
| Organisation | Poetry International Foundation |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Poetry International Rotterdam (PIR), held each June, is the Netherlands' biggest poetry festival, and one of the world's leading international poetry festivals. It is one of our bid's two Project Partners, and one of its four main collaborating bodies. Our contributions are: #1 One of PIR's key missions is to communicate poetry across language borders. Thus each festival includes a poetry translation workshop. In 2017, our project helped Poetry International Rotterdam by supplying this workshop (Project Workshop 1, English-to-Dutch). #2 Our project's impact activities have helped PIR's mission by communicating to English-speaking audiences the work of the project's three Dutch poets (see 'Collaborations and Partnerships / Dutch Foundation for Literature'), all of them eminent. #3 Our project's impact activities increased audiences for the project's three equally eminent UK poets, both within the Netherlands and internationally. Details of impact activities are listed below, and under 'Engagement Activities'. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Poetry International Rotterdam gave crucial input into the project's design. Before the project started, PIR's Jan Baeke, together with the Dutch Foundation for Literature (see separate 'Collaborations and Partnerships' entry), acted as a key advisor to the project research team. This continued during the project. PIR colleagues co-organised Project Workshop 1 in Rotterdam (see 'Research Databases and Models'), which ran as part of the 2017 PIR festival. Details of workshop organisation were discussed between the project team and the PIR team, and during a pre-workshop visit by PI Jones to Rotterdam. Specifically, PIR: #1 Arranged hotel accommodation for workshop participants. #2 Helped organise the pre-workshop briefing session and reception . #3 Arranged premises, refreshments and lunches for the workshop's working sessions at the Goethe Institut in Rotterdam. #4 Hosted the public end-of-Workshop-1 event (see 'Engagement Activities'). |
| Impact | #1 A successfully organised Workshop 1: one of the AHRC project's two data-gathering points, as outlined in the bid (see 'Research Databases and Models'). #2 A successful end-of-Workshop-1 event on 2 June 2017, which formed part of the PIR festival programme. This was hosted and compered by Jan Baeke (see 'Engagement Activities' for details). All events (like the project as a whole) are multi-disciplinary, at the interface of poetry-writing and translation studies. #3 Working relationships established during the project have continued since. For example, PI Jones wrote an introduction to an English book-length translation of poems by Jan Baeke (2020: see Publications). |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Title | Translated Poems |
| Description | The two translation workshops generated written translations of 40 original ('source') poems. Because the translations are copyrighted and publishable, they are listed here as well as under 'Artistic & Creative Products'. The workshop participants, i.e. study subjects, retain joint copyright ownership in those translations which they personally worked on. The participants granted the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (and thus the project research team) the non-exclusive right to use, publish and disseminate the translations for our research, public outreach and teaching purposes. |
| IP Reference | |
| Protection | Copyrighted (e.g. software) |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | See 'Artistic & Creative Products'. |
| Description | Collaborative poetry translation MA module |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | PI Jones and CoI Herbert ran an 11-session MA module on collaborative poetry translation from February to June 2020. The 12 participants were taking various MA programmes at Newcastle University's School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics - all were already practising literary writers. Besides Herbert and Jones, three practising poets with collaborative translating experience - including one of the project's poet participants - also led sessions. The module was based around the AHRC project, and communicated its translating techniques and findings to the module participants. Good feedback was received; some participants wrote that they would use collaborative translation in their future poetry practice. After a break because of Covid, the module is now (March 2022) running again with a new cohort of students (from both translation and creative writing MAs). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2022 |
| Description | Conclave |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | During 2021, Fiona Sampson hosted this monthly online live international poetry event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7zz-cFYWzc |
| Description | Creative Critical Writing Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | CoI Herbert and PI Jones ran an afternoon's workshop about using one's own creative-writing practice as a research resource, based on the project's reflexive research methodology. It contained a simulated poet-advisor-poet translation session following this project's model. Participants were research students and practitioners in creative writing. This was part of a national 2-day seminar on Creative Critical Writing held at Newcastle University. IMPACT: Participants said afterwards that this had inspired them to work collaboratively more in their creative writing practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativecriticalwriting.wordpress.com/creative-critical-writing-workshop-2018/workshops-2018... |
| Description | End-of-Workshop-1 Event (Rotterdam) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On the final day (2 June 2017) of Workshop 1 in Rotterdam, which focused on English-to-Dutch translation, we held an hour-long presentation as part of the 48th Poetry International Rotterdam festival (PIR: see 'Collaborations and Partnerships'). This was audio-recorded for later use. Two panel discussions, and six readings of English source poems and Dutch translations, compered by PIR's Jan Baeke, showcased the work produced during the workshop. The audience was small (about 20), but influential, consisting mainly of cultural journalists (including from the Volkskrant, a leading Dutch daily) and literary editors. The event announcement on PIR's website, in both English and Dutch, featured a detailed introduction to our research project. KEY OUTCOMES/IMPACT: #1 As intended, this event increased international public awareness of the poet-advisor-poet translation method. #2 Positive comments by audience members afterwards showed that the readings had enhanced the international reputation of the three UK poets, and the professional reputation of the language advisors as translators in their own right. #3 Two editors of the leading Dutch literary journal Terras were present - a journal highlighted in the project bid as a possible publisher of Workshop-1 translations. Terras ultimately published these translations in 2018, with essays about the project by Dutch poet participant Hélène Gelèns and by project RA Johnson: see 'Publications'. This considerably enlarged the audience for the poets (enhancing their reputation) and for the trio method: a Dutch blogger, for instance, blogged a translated poem by CoI/participant Sampson with positive comments. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | End-of-Workshop-2 Event (Newcastle) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On the final day (20 July 2017) of Workshop 2 at Newcastle, which focused on Dutch-to-English translation, we ran a three-part public engagement event. Videos of the event were posted on the project website and project YouTube channel (see 'Engagement Activities'). The audience (about 60) consisted of translators, poets, translation-studies and poetry-writing academics, literary editors, musicians and artists (many of them Part-3 participants), and poetry enthusiasts - a key target audience for project findings, as outlined in the bid. Participants came from all over the UK. The parts were: PART 1 A reception, where audience members and workshop participants networked. PART 2 A session showcasing the project. It featured panel discussions about workshop translating processes, and readings of Dutch source poems and English translations from Workshop 2 by poets and language advisors. PART 3 'Translation as Collaboration' presentations. Beforehand, a call had been publicised by posters and on project social media. This had encouraged a wide public to reflect on our Poet-Advisor-Poet project's key element - collaborative, creative translation - in terms of their own creative or translating practice, and to produce collaborative presentations involving cross-language and/or cross-media translation. Of the ten resulting presentations, most involved poetry, whether translated across languages (e.g. Spanish to English), across media (e.g. poetry to music), or both. To subsidise accommodation and travel for participants from outside the region, £550 was vired from underspends on other items in the AHRC budget. This investment not only improved the quality of Part 3, but also drew in extra audience for our project outcomes - including the 20 Part-3 presenters. KEY OUTCOMES/IMPACT: #1 The event increased UK-wide public awareness of the poet-advisor-poet translation method. One audience member called it "a fascinating insight into a collaborative project". Another wrote that it had impacted on her poetry-writing/translation practice: "I was interested in the threeness of the translation process ... and am interested in exploring ways beyond a one-to-one dialogue". #2 The Part 2 readings enhanced the international reputation of the three Dutch poets: "The beauty of Dutch, & exciting Dutch poetry" (tweet from a translator/editor/writer). They almost certainly also enhanced the poetic reputation of the three UK poets reading translations, and the professional reputation of the language advisors as translators. #3 The event broadened how audience members conceived of translation and collaborative creative practice: to quote, it was "liberating in the breadth of options it delved into for what translation and collaboration mean". #4 Some artists, poets and translators present reported that the collaborative principles of our poet-advisor-poet research would impact on their professional practice. One person wrote: "it was my first ever translation in poetry event ... I think actually it will have quite a profound effect on my practice ... and I am thinking through ways to take it forward". A translator wrote: "the presentation gives me the confidence to wield my creativity in translation in the future". A poet wrote "now, I would like to engage in further translation work". Another audience member wrote "it provides a very interesting context ( different ideas of translation) in which we can situate what we're doing". A translation-studies academic from another university wrote: "the discussions will inform my academic (both research and teaching) practice". #5 Two audience members were inspired by the event to submit bids for the Project Artwork (see separate entry). #6 The call enabled Part-3 participants (most of whom had not collaborated beforehand) to build new professional and creative relationships. "I'm hoping it might lead to more, similar collaborations ... I'd be interested to push the limits of what ... translation can involve." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOv4CKamninPpjjaV5r3oxQ/videos?disable_polymer=1 |
| Description | English PEN International Translation Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 28th September 2018, project RA Johnson was a panellist at the English PEN International Translation Day event, speaking about the poet-advisor-poet project and translation in general. The event was funded by AHRC Translating Cultures. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.englishpen.org/event/international-translation-day-2018/ |
| Description | National Poetry Day Translation Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 4. October 2018, project CoI Sampson, aided by project RA Johnson, organised the event: "National Poetry Day Translation Summit - The Future of Poetry Translation: Pathways and Practices". This was the "Roehampton public reading/talk event" proposed in the AHRC funding bid. Collaboration with the Institute of Modern Languages Research (IMLR) at University College London (see 'Collaboration & Partnerships') enabled us to hold the event at Senate House, University of London. The IMLR ensured wider publicity and outreach. Though presenters' accommodation was at Roehampton University (entailing travel costs but reducing accommodation costs), the event's central London venue also enabled higher attendance. About 70 participants registered for the day. Besides project researchers and participants, other key attendees were: • Leading publishers and journal editors of translated poetry (from e.g. Arc Press, Shearsman Press; Poem, Modern Poetry in Translation) • Leaders of organisations promoting literary translation (e.g. English PEN, the National Writing Centre, the Stephen Spender Trust, and the Poetry Translation Centre) • Leaders of European cultural bodies supporting literary translation (Lithuanian Cultural Institute, Austrian Cultural Forum, and Romanian Cultural Institute) • Poets and translators active in poetry translation - from within but also outside the UK (e.g. Canada, Romania, and Korea). Translators ranged from enthusiastic students and novices to extremely eminent veterans (e.g. Elaine Feinstein). Several of the above also participated in panels (see below). Our key aims were to promote the project's poet-advisor-poet methods as a template for translating poetry, to publicise the project, and to present source poems and translations from the project. We also aimed to stimulate discussion of issues around poetry translation, and to enable key poetry-translation actors and enablers to network, thus seeding future collaboration - as well as positioning our project as a key player in UK poetry translation. The event comprised: • A poetry-translation workshop, giving attendees hands-on experience of poet-advisor-poet translating. • Discussion panels (led by project CoIs Sampson and Herbert, project RA Johnson, and involving invited attendees) on: innovative projects in poetry translation; the future of literary translation in the UK after Brexit; and innovations in publishing and public events involving translated poetry • Readings of original poetry plus translations. Project poets (including CoIs Sampson and Herbert) and a language advisor presented poems and translations from the Rotterdam and Newcastle workshops. Guest poets Jeongrye Choi (South Korea) and Diana Manole (Romania/Canada) also read poems with translations. • A networking reception. KEY OUTCOMES/IMPACT National and international reporting: • The event was reported in the Newsletter of the Literary Translators' Association of Canada. • An article about the event (Jones, 2018) was published in the journal of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. • Videos of panels were posted on YouTube, on the Project website, and on the website of the Institute of Modern Languages Research (IMLR). These brought information about the project's methods to a wide audience of translation professionals. Project poet Elma van Haren, hearing a poem read by guest poet / panellist Diana Manole, agreed to translate it into Dutch - broadening both poets' international reach and output. Manole also published a report on the Summit in the Newsletter of the Literary Translators' Association of Canada (see 'Publications'). Tony Ward, Chief Editor, Arc Press, hoped "that this . can become a regular date". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://poettrioexperiment.com/2018/10/16/national-poetry-day-future-of-translation-summit/ |
| Description | Newcastle Poetry Festival 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | At the May 2017 Newcastle Poetry Festival, CoI Herbert led a discussion panel on poetry translation. On the panel were project CoI Sampson plus other leading poetry translators and poetry translation editors, and leaders of organisations promoting poetry translation. During discussion, Sampson presented our project as an example of innovative practice in poetry translation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Newcastle Poetry Festival 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | At the May 2018 Newcastle Poetry Festival, our project, led by RA Johnson, co-curated a translation-themed day with The Poetry Book Society and Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA) at The Sage concert hall in Gateshead. This featured: • Two Dutch»English poetry translation workshops, where project researchers, language advisors and poets gave 10 members of the public (including translators and poets) experience in using the project's translation methods. The following events were presented to a national and international audience of 88 people (poets, editors, publishers, leaders of cultural organisations plus members of the public): • Public readings by 5 project poets (including CoI Sampson and CoI Herbert) of project poems, with projections of translations produced in the project. • A panel about collaborative poetry translation, led by Co-I Herbert, and involving PI Jones plus other international translators and poets. Here Jones presented project methods and findings. • A panel about poetry and voices of exile. • A panel about promoting translated poetry internationally, involving project CoI Sampson and other leading UK translators, poetry editors and poetry publishers. • The presentation of the Project Artwork Film (see 'Artistic and Creative Products' ). This also played in a loop at Northern Stage (another festival location) during the festival. • Readings of translated poetry by poets and translators not linked to our project. Our project's input was funded from two sources. One was £2100 from project funds earmarked for NCLA expenses. The other was £2747 from Newcastle University's Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Impact Fund (see 'Further Funding'), most of which went towards the event. IMPACT: The event was live-streamed worldwide via Facebook: for example, people commented who were watching from Australia. It was also live-tweeted and instagrammed to over 30,000 followers. Workshop participants gave enthusiastic reports and reported changes in practice (see e.g. translator's blog at the URL below); poetry editors and leaders of cultural organisations gave very positive reports; and Bloodaxe Books offered to publish the translations read at the event (see Narrative Impact for details). The Literature Programmer of London Southbank Centre asked us to explain the project's "flawless" method of presenting screen translations, so that they could use the same methods. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://sandersontranslations.wordpress.com/2019/03/06/poettrio-translation-workshop/amp/?__twitter_... |
| Description | Objects in Translation: Project Artwork report |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project is contributing an entry, now in press, about the Project Artwork Film (see 'Artistic & Creative Products') to the online exhibition 'Objects in Translation', curated by the AHRC Translating Culture theme at Liverpool University (see 'Publications'). The exhibition includes descriptions plus images, film links, etc. of objects, artefacts or performances representing research into translating cultures, aimed at a non-academic audience. Our entry consists of an essay about the film with a URL link for the film. This will aim to increase public interest in poetry translation and its potential links with art, and may well stimulate other explorations or collaborations by art and/or translation practitioners. See also 'Artistic & Creative Products / Project Artwork Film'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| Description | Presentation and workshop, Institute of Translation and Interpreting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In May 2021, PI Francis Jones and one of the Project's language advisors ran an event on collaborative poetry translation. This was a special Dutch Translation Network event, which formed part of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting's (ITI's) annual conference. The event, like the conference, was held online. The 20 attendees were professional Dutch-English translators, but not poetry specialists. After a talk about the Project and wider issues in poetry translation by Jones, the former language advisor and Jones each led a collaborative translation exercise (based on the Project workshops) with a group of participants. Informal feedback from participants stated that the insights had been revelatory. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Project Artwork Call |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A call for proposals for the Project Artwork (outlined in the bid) was broadcast from November 2017 to January 2018. Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA: see 'Collaborations') advised on commissioning, and helped select the winning entry. The call resulted in 76 applications. For the winning entry, see 'Artistic & Creative Products'. KEY OUTCOMES/IMPACT: #1 We contacted artists via the project's website, Twitter account and Facebook account, and also via the Arts Council, Artist Newsletter and Art Rabbit sites, plus the Twitter accounts of NCLA and Newcastle University's School of Modern Languages. Applications were also inspired by the end-of-Workshop-2 event. The call aroused much interest on Twitter (over 10,000 impressions). It also generated many visits to our website (3,598 visits from 1,322 unique visitors, Dec 2017 - Jan 2018) and to our YouTube channel. See 'Engagement Activities' for more details. #2 The wide initial interest, and especially the detailed engagement with our project shown in the 76 entries, testifies to how our project has caused fine-art and music practitioners to think about how their work might involve poetry and translation. This in turn could well have a lasting impact on their work - and not only on that of the winner. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
| URL | https://poettrioexperiment.com/2017/11/24/paid-art-commission-call-for-proposals/ |
| Description | Project Facebook account |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project Facebook account publicises the project, gives information about project-related events, and also generally raises awareness for poetry and literary translation. Its audience is modest: 22 followers by March 2019, though there are more viewers. Its main aim is to supplement the reach of the project website and Twitter feed - posting, for instance, the project's Artwork Commission call (see 'Engagement Activities' / separate entries). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/poettrioexperiment/ |
| Description | Project Twitter account |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project Twitter account publicised the project, gave information about project-related events, but also generally raised awareness for poetry and literary translation. It accessed a very wide audience: we had 279 followers from various countries; and in January 2018, for example, we earned 15,000 impressions (views). Three tweets announcing our project's Artwork Commission earned over 10,000 impressions alone, showing that we were not just reaching our core audience of those interested in poetry and translation, but were also engaging with fine-art practitioners. KEY OUTCOMES/IMPACT: The Twitter feed publicised all our activities, and has established our project as a key international player in poetry translation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/poettrios |
| Description | Project YouTube channel |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project YouTube channel has publicised the project by hosting 22 videos from the public end-of-Workshop-2 event and the September 2017 follow-up translation day. Videos are subtitled to increase accessibility. The channel features Dutch poets and language advisors reading Dutch source poems, British target-language poets reading their translations, and two of the British poets reading their source poems; we intend to add the third British poet as soon as feasible. Also from the end-of-Workshop-2 event, there are videos of discussions by project researchers about the workshop, and of Translation-as-Collaboration presentations (see separate 'Engagement Activities' entry). Links feed in from the project website, Twitter account and Facebook account (see separate 'Engagement Activities' entries). IMPACT/OUTCOMES: The videos had gained 1675 views by March 2018; 70% of viewers were from the UK, and 30% from outside the UK. We have therefore informed a wide international public about our project, and enabled poetry enthusiasts to enjoy original and translated poetry. This has almost certainly enhanced the reputation (and thus international impact) of the three Dutch poets, and of Dutch poetry generally. The same holds for the reputation of the UK poets reading their translations in English, and for the language advisors featured. Artists thinking of responding to the project's Artwork Commission call were told that they could find key information about the project on the YouTube channel. Each of these artists, 76 of whom submitted a bid, has therefore engaged closely with our research processes and outcomes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOv4CKamninPpjjaV5r3oxQ/videos?disable_polymer=1 |
| Description | Project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The project website publicised the project and gave information about project-related events. We first came up with a catchy title for the project ('PoetTrios') to aid communication with the public and for promotional uses, plus a project logo to communicate the project visually. Both featured prominently in all our impact and dissemination channels, including on the website. The website home page hosts a project blog. This gives news about the project, plus achievements and publications by project researchers. It also reposts selected articles related to the project's theme of collaborative/creative literary translation. The site has a link to the Project YouTube channel ('Engagement Activities' / separate entry). One section of the site also gives information, videos, etc. from the 'Translation as Collaboration' presentations which formed part of the end-of-Workshop-2 event ('Engagement Activities'/separate entry. The site has been submitted for archiving to the British Library. KEY OUTCOMES/IMPACT: #1 The website has informed a wide public about the project, and about collaborative poetry translation. In 2018, for instance, the site had almost 6000 views by over 2000 visitors. They came from many countries - primarily the UK, but with the USA and the Netherlands also prominent. #2 The site publicised the Project Artwork call ('Engagement Activities'/separate entry), and acted as an information source for potential bidders. The 544 visits to the call page, and the resulting 76 bids, showed that the website was not just reaching its 'core' audience of those interested in poetry and translation: it was also engaging with fine-art practitioners, and prompting many of them to try to contribute to the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
| URL | https://poettrioexperiment.com/ |
| Description | The Middle Ground |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Middle Ground, hosted by Fiona Sampson, is a weekly radio literature show focussed on Central Europe, which includes poetry translated both solo and collaboratively. It appears on Trafika Europe Radio, a station based in the US and dedicated to European literature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.trafikaeurope.org/podcast/the-middle-ground/?c=04007ae3e449 |
| Description | Timisoara reading |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | CoI Sampson read her poems in the original language (English), with readings of her translations, at the International Literature Festival in Timisoara, Romania in 2017. This disseminated Sampson's poetry in translation (as a study participant), and increased audiences for poetry in translation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Versopolis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An issue dated July 2017 of the on-line journal Versopolis: European Review of Poetry, Books and Culture was edited by project CoI Sampson. Her essay "We Don't Have to be the Ass of Europe" argues that literary translation is one among a number of interpretive practices paradigmatic of dialogue which could be continued in non-literary spheres such as international diplomacy. Sampson also commissioned the article "Activist Publishers and Institutions Translate" by project Research Associate Johnson. Here, two paragraphs showcase the project and the end-of-Workshop-2 event (see 'Engagement Activities / End-of-workshop-2 Event'). KEY OUTCOMES/IMPACT: This informed poetry and literature readers about the project, expanding the future audience for project findings, within a context of advocacy for poetry translation and its social role. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://poettrioexperiment.com/2017/07/12/activist-publishers-and-institutions-translate/ |
| Description | Workshop, Institute of Translation and Interpreting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In March 2020, PI Jones, together with a 'Language Advisor' participant from the project, organised two training sessions in collaborative translation for members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) in Hexham, Northumberland. ITI is one of the UK's main professional organisations for translators. This was in preparation for a larger collaborative translation event for North-East England Dutch-English translators due to be held in May 2020. The latter event unfortunately had to be postponed because of the Covid pandemic. It has now been rescheduled for ITI's national on-line conference in May 2021. Here, Jones will deliver a lecture and lead a discussion about the AHRC project's collaborative translating methods. He and the former Language Advisor will then lead poetry translation workshops demonstrating the project's methods. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.iti.org.uk/resource/iti-conference-2021-an-unprecedented-opportunity.html |