Translating Culture and Image in Poetry, a workshop with Kareem James Abu-Zeid | Sat. October 26 from 1-3 PM

In this hands-on two-hour workshop, we will hone in on two of the thorniest challenges that translators face: translating cultural context, and translating on the level of the image (rather than the level of the word). Using “trots” (i.e., a thick translation) of selections from arguably the first and most famous poem in the Arabic literary tradition, the 6th-century poet Imru al-Qays’ Mu’allaqa or “Hanging Poem,” we’ll work together as a group and explore some strategies for producing poetic texts that sing—and make sense—to contemporary English-language readers, even when the source text is far removed from our contemporary context. Although we will be focusing on a classical poem for expediency’s sake, the issues we will be examining are equally relevant to contemporary texts, both poetry and prose. Translators and aspiring translators from any languages and of any and all levels are welcome: no prior experience is required, though a passion for poetry is a plus.

Kareem James Abu-Zeid, Ph.D., is an award-winning translator of poets and novelists from across the Arab world who translates from Arabic, French, and German. His book-length translations include work by Najwan Darwish (Palestine), Adonis (Syria), Dunya Mikhail (Iraq), and Rabee Jaber (Lebanon). He has received the Sarah Maguire Prize, PEN Center USA’s translation prize, Poetry Magazine's translation prize, a Fulbright Fellowship, and an NEA translation grant, among other honors, and has twice been a finalist for the PEN America Translation Prize (once in poetry and once in prose). His translation of Najwan Darwish’s No One Will Know You Tomorrow: Selected Poems 2014–2024 is forthcoming from Yale Margellos (November 2024). He is also the author of the book The Poetics of Adonis and Yves Bonnefoy: Poetry as Spiritual Practice.