Poetry – with all its potential pitfalls – was on the menu at the METM25 translation slam in Barcelona. The 102-year-old literary virtuoso Josep Vallverdú* was chosen as source-text author, given his links to MET, his contribution to METM13 and the important recognition of his art by Catalan society.

Slammers Fiona Megan Kelso and Louise Keohane gamely rose to the challenge, producing evocative – and very distinct  – translations into English of the three poems “Aragalls”, “Mundial” and “Llibre abandonat”. The discussion was ably moderated by Gary Smith, whose gentle and steady manner helped the audience to sit back, enjoy the event, and mull over choices, even if they had no real knowledge of the source language.

Both slammers felt the passage of time was a significant theme of the poems and this was apparent in their translations. Fiona’s subtly nostalgic renderings and Louise’s intuitive versions both reflected the elderly poet’s blend of archaic and contemporary terms.

Gary encouraged the two translators to share insights into how they approached the flow, sound and range of possible meanings of Vallverdú’s rich verse and varied imagery. Both Fiona and Louise demonstrated the influence and importance of the human translator’s imagination and intelligence when reflecting a text’s meaning and nuances in another language.

The Catalan originals, read with great aplomb by Carlos Mayor, and the English renderings by both translators left everyone in the room moved.

Watch the video of Carlos, Fiona and Louise reading the poems aloud.

Video and photo credit: Julian Mayers

*For those interested in reading more about the work of Josep Vallverdú, here is a recent publication in Catalan.