Modern Poetry in Translation (Mother Tongues)

Zephyr Press becomes U.S. publisher of Modern Poetry in Translation

The series Modern Poetry in Translation was founded by Daniel Weissbort and Ted Hughes in 1966, and since that time has achieved an international reputation for the wide range of poets and translators that it presents, as well as for its serious and lively discussion of the art of translating poetry. Each volume of the series offers a themed special section in addition to a wide-ranging selection of poems from other times and places, plus essays on translation, reviews, an ongoing exchange of readers' and contributors' comments, and occasional features on individual translators. Beginning with this volume, Zephyr Press will continue to work in conjunction with the UK editorial office of MPT in order to broaden the series’ reach—both in terms of general readership and the material contained within each volume.

Mother Tongues brings together the work of poets who are or were resident in the UK, writing in languages other than English, Welsh or Gaelic. The field is large, ranging from the old BBC contingent, to recent immigrants and political refugees. As well as translations of poetry, the collection contains seven or eight short essays by living poets which, from a linguistic and cultural point of view, looks into the predicament of writing in a language which is not that of the writer’s larger environment. The experience of exile, marginilization, and issues such as that of artistic integrity will also be addressed in these pieces.

Translators will include Ted Hughes, Daniel Weissbort, Michael Hamburger, and Musa Moris Farhi.