{"id":395346,"date":"2018-04-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wdev.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent-dev\/2018\/04\/11\/death-by-poetry-and-the-lies-about-me\/"},"modified":"2018-07-21T10:47:09","modified_gmt":"2018-07-21T14:47:09","slug":"death-by-poetry-and-the-lies-about-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/2018\/04\/11\/death-by-poetry-and-the-lies-about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Death by Poetry and The Lies about Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a litany of reasons for why I\u2019m combining a few posts here and writing a shorter, more condensed, straightforward post than most of the others. Baby (always an excuse), other obligations\u2014such as the Best Translated Book Award longlists announcement and a bachelor party in which \u201cwhat happens in Boiceville, stays in Boiceville, especially if what happens is a bunch of aging dudes sit in a living room getting drunk and talking about books and movies for two days,\u201d and the never-ending assault of reading for my international fiction class. It\u2019s also too cold! And we have a translator arriving for their residency and two author visits over the next two weeks. Phew.<\/em><\/p>\n

So this piece is going to be a bit shorter. That\u2019s OK. It\u2019s poetry month, so I\u2019ll embrace the brevity.<\/p>\n

*<\/center>Poetry is actually where I want to start. On my monthly roundups on the \u201cstate of translations,\u201d I\u2019ve been mostly ignoring poetry collections and only making comparisons about how many works of fiction<\/em> are being published. (Spoiler: Not as many as past years.) So let\u2019s take a quick look into the numbers for 2018 and see what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

Number of poetry collections published, January-April by year:<\/p>\n

2015: 28
\n2016: 33 (+18%)
\n2017: 43 (+30%)
\n2018: 21 (-52%)<\/p>\n

What the shit is going on in 2018? This is crazy. I just went through SPD<\/span>\u2019s catalog and every translation publisher from 2017 and I got this. How disappointing.<\/p>\n

I could try and break this precipitous fall-off down by publisher, language, country, translator, etc., but why bother. Either we\u2019re missing something major<\/em>, or the bottom is falling out and the boat is sinking. Regressing to the mean. Playing like the Cardinals. Whatever.<\/p>\n

When it comes to translation statistics<\/em>, 2018 is the worst. Like, literally.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just move on and check back in when there\u2019s good news to share. Instead, let\u2019s talk about actual poetry!<\/p>\n

*<\/center>My plan for this month was to read a work of fiction and<\/em> a poetry collection and talk about them every week. I have four April collections already picked out\u2014which represent almost 20% of the poetry in translation published so far this year?\u2014and the first one up is Stormwarning.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stormwarning<\/em><\/a> by Krist\u00edn Svava T\u00f3masd\u00f3ttir, translated from the Icelandic by K.T. Billey (Phoneme Media)<\/b><\/p>\n

I feel like a terrible hypocrite.<\/p>\n

For years I\u2019ve advocated for the idea that anyone<\/em> can read international literature, or \u201cdifficult\u201d domestic literature, or, well, anything\u2014you just had to dive in, give it a chance, let the book guide you and explain how to read it.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I\u2019ve written on this blog (and said on our podcasts) that I don\u2019t read poetry. That I don\u2019t get it.<\/em> There are a bunch of \u201cgood\u201d reasons I could trot out here about time and attention and my literary upbringing, and so on and forth, but if I\u2019m being honest, I don\u2019t read much poetry because it\u2019s \u201cbeyond me.\u201d I have none of the vocabulary to speak with poets or academics (not sure how much those vernaculars actually differ), I haven\u2019t read nearly enough to feel confident in making my own connections (which I can do with fiction), and I don\u2019t know what to say about it in a post (which is all that matters since I\u2019m self-centered, like most people).<\/p>\n

That last one is probably the most real. If I can\u2019t figure out a fun way to write about\/talk about a book, it\u2019s dead to me. This is my way of engaging with the text\u2014using it as a launching pad for other ideas, or going deep into it with my students or friends. When I try to write about international poetry, I feel like I\u2019m way out of my depth and likely sound like an idiot. (More of an idiot, I suppose.)<\/p>\n

But how shitty is that? How can I advocate for crazy, semi-experimental international fiction for the masses and then blatantly ignore a whole category of writing? Hypocrite.<\/p>\n

*<\/center>So let\u2019s give it a try. It\u2019s insane to think that I could develop a reasonable set of ideas and approaches to talking about poetry over a single month, but maybe by doubling down on this, I can at least find some sort of foothold\u2014however tenuous it might be.<\/p>\n

One place to start is with the immediately visceral: Did I enjoy reading the poems in Stormwarning<\/em>? I did! Since I\u2019ve more or less sworn off jacket copy\u2014I only judge a book by its front<\/em> cover\u2014I had no idea what to expect. Poems about Iceland, I assume, since Krist\u00edn Svava T\u00f3masd\u00f3ttir is Icelandic. But that\u2019s as far as that idea went. (Although betting on some environmental\/nature poetry slant would\u2019ve seemed a safe bet given the title.)<\/p>\n

Joy is a slippery term though. One I try and force my students to get past. \u201cI really enjoyed reading this\u201d doesn\u2019t really signify anything concrete. What did you enjoy? The linguist puzzles? Fantastic descriptions of Quidditch matches? The humor? Sorrow? And isn\u2019t this whole \u201cI enjoyed it\u201d a way of hiding the fact that you don\u2019t really have anything else to say?<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing Positive\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Go mountains!
\nGo clouds!
\nGo moss!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I enjoyed that.<\/em> That sort of playful narrative voice\u2014which, in my opinion, is both honest and ironic at once through the juxtaposition of esteem-centric cheers with natural objects that require no encouragement\u2014is the thing I gravitate toward in poetry. Usually. I want my poetry to be understood on first pass, probably because I\u2019m lazy and always trying to move on to the next book.<\/p>\n

Another example of this from Stormwarning<\/em> (and please, go buy this book<\/a> from Phoneme so that they don\u2019t shut me down for raiding their content):<\/p>\n

\u201cPass\u00e9\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Once everyone wanted to get to the moon.
\nIt happened in the summer of 1969.
\nThen no one longed for the moon.
\nThe moon is empty and abandoned.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Again, a bit ironic, a bit true, a bit humorous. Humor will get me most every time. That and poems\/sections about aging. Especially if there\u2019s a little seasoning of nostalgia. Like this bit from \u201cIn the Nursing Home\u201d:<\/p>\n

the dissolution is here
\neverything is
\nafloat
\nthe self
\nthe memory
\nthe built-in locating equipment
\nwe are all here
\nbut also other places
\nand no one knows what happens next<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s a difference between pointing to something you like, and explaining what makes it good. I can\u2019t do that with poetry, which is unfortunate, since listening to smart people talk about poetry in smart ways can be really entertaining.<\/p>\n

I was hoping to find more reviews of Stormwarning<\/em> to help guide me, but I\u2019m honestly not even sure where exactly people review<\/em> poetry collections in translation. I mean, there are reviews in Publishers Weekly<\/em> and Modern Poetry in Translation<\/em>, in places like The Brooklyn Rail<\/em>, and in various academic journals, but that still seems kind of thin. I\u2019m 100% sure these conversations are going on elsewhere, so please do<\/em> @ me and let me know what to pay attention to!<\/p>\n

For now though, with regard to Stormwarning<\/em>, I\u2019m going to leave it at this: I like the tone, I like the plain language. I also love these lines:<\/p>\n

The day tomorrow will be worse
\nbut that does not mean that the day today is not bad.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n

*<\/center>Let\u2019s be honest though. The best poem of 2018 are the lyrics to \u201cUnlovable\u201d by Chad Post.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yeah this can\u2019t end well
\nWhen the flames feel like hell
\nPut me on a pedestal
\nBut you\u2019ve been lying to yourself<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And if that\u2019s how you act
\nThen yes I would take it back
\nMemories that we had
\nMust hurt so bad
\nDon\u2019t throw your hands up like that
\nSave the tears your bags are packed
\nBecause it\u2019s too late now to ever go back<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s all because you said I was unlovable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I feel ya, Chad Post! And check out the video:<\/p>\n