tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post115584958095868943..comments2024-01-23T18:21:17.066+00:00Comments on Surroundings: George Szirtes, Osip Mandelstam, and Cesare Pavese - all in 90 Minutes.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046788730174617923noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1156277298120462072006-08-22T21:08:00.000+01:002006-08-22T21:08:00.000+01:00You probably would have loved it, Aisha. Hope you ...You probably would have loved it, Aisha. <BR/><BR/>Hope you are having a good time with Paula and the rest of your gang. I'll just nip over to your blog and see if there's news of what you're up to.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17046788730174617923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1156171563548893772006-08-21T15:46:00.000+01:002006-08-21T15:46:00.000+01:00I am jealous...would have loved that --I am jealous...<BR/>would have loved that --Aishahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939230653024473666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1156029085133741552006-08-20T00:11:00.000+01:002006-08-20T00:11:00.000+01:00Heh. Thanks Rob. I realise how it is for magazine ...Heh. Thanks Rob. I realise how it is for magazine editors. They have a lot of poems to choose from, and most of the rejection letters I get are very nice ones. <BR/>I read about someone who got poems accepted by Poetry Review at the 23rd attempt. At that rate I still have 21 to go.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17046788730174617923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1156014613860680282006-08-19T20:10:00.000+01:002006-08-19T20:10:00.000+01:00Actually Rob although it might seem hard, I don’t ...Actually Rob although it might seem hard, I don’t think that success rate is too bad at all compared with some of the rejection stories I’ve heard. Having said that I’m a little cynical about most types of selection. <BR/><BR/>In the case of poetry selections I am sure that most editors think that they are being evenhanded but there is just so much stuff out there of a high quality that they can’t help imho being swayed by factors that don’t necessarily have a lot to do with excellence. Obviously if your poem doesn’t fit with current theme or prevailing “fashion” it doesn’t help, but even if it does you really need an edge to become mainstream or even a major tributary. That edge seems likely to me to be either in the form of exceptional genius (very rare by definition of course) or alternatively something less talked about. Influence.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps it’s not so much who you know, as who knows you, and who they know!<BR/><BR/>Appearing in celebrity (sorry GS) blogs alongside Sean may yet be your passport to the day that Ms Sampson says to herself as she riffles through the final cut for the summer edition: “Mackenzie, humm Mackenzie, surely not THE Rob Mackenzie submitting to my humble publication!”<BR/><BR/>RobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1155999355256633552006-08-19T15:55:00.000+01:002006-08-19T15:55:00.000+01:00sorlil - I wouldn't call myself fluent in Italian,...sorlil - I wouldn't call myself <I>fluent</I> in Italian, although I know enough to work with the originals. But if you know even a little of a language, you can sit with the original, a dictionary and a few other translations and do a good job. I know <A = _BLANK HREF="http://heracliteanfire.net/" REL="nofollow">Harry</A> did a fine translation of an Antonio Machado poem that way. I guess it always means you’re dependent on a source other than the original poem, but you can still make a good poem out of it.<BR/><BR/>Mark – I’d read your Basho post – really interesting!<BR/><BR/>Rob – I toyed with the idea of translating your computer-speak into Italian poetry, but decided I ought to do something worthwhile with my time! <BR/>It was very nice of George Szirtes to mention me in his blog. However, I’m unlikely to get ahead of myself. I’ve looked at the last 15 submissions I’ve made to poetry magazines, and the tally is:<BR/><BR/>Still to hear – 6: Ambit, Granta, Orbis, Markings, Shearsman, and another one I can’t mention.<BR/>Rejections – 7: Smiths Knoll, Poetry London, the Shop, Magma, Stride, Rattle, The North<BR/>Acceptances – 2: nthposition, Iota <BR/><BR/>And I sent these magazines good stuff, or as good as I can do, at any rate. All of which puts perspective on the “fame and fortune” idea. However being mentioned alongside Sean Connery means more to me than money or adulation!<BR/><BR/>Cailleach – probably I felt free with the Russian translation because I wasn’t writing with any “serious” purpose (i.e. publishing), but on the other hand, there is something to be learned from that experience. It’s the tension between bringing out the best you can manage of the original’s spirit, and creating something that works well as poetry in English that’s at the root of translation – as I see it – and I need to think more about the second half of that tension.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17046788730174617923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1155985059553482622006-08-19T11:57:00.000+01:002006-08-19T11:57:00.000+01:00This sounds like a very fruitful workshop with a m...This sounds like a very fruitful workshop with a much admired poet.<BR/><BR/>What an opportunity!<BR/><BR/>I like the idea that translating from a language that you don'tknow, can seem more liberating than translating from a language that you do.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06280161801824435219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1155982691691962322006-08-19T11:18:00.000+01:002006-08-19T11:18:00.000+01:00Addendum.And there YOU are with a special mention ...Addendum.<BR/><BR/>And there YOU are with a special mention in George's blog in the same paragraphical breath as Sean Connery and Jeremy Paxman (is that good?) not to mention Paul Farley, Hugo Williams and Helen Simpson (definitely good).<BR/><BR/>Fame and fortune calleth!<BR/><BR/>RobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1155932927331485002006-08-18T21:28:00.000+01:002006-08-18T21:28:00.000+01:00RobYou are extremely clever. I've always admired ...Rob<BR/><BR/>You are extremely clever. I've always admired people who can not only speak and write other languages, but also "get behind them". <BR/><BR/>Now a real challenge! Please translate a small piece I stumbled on today in my non poetic ramblings:<BR/><BR/>"CAUSE<BR/>The Outlook and Outlook Express problem is caused by a regression error in the Mshtml.dll files that are included with the Internet Explorer 6 SP1 version of the MS03-004: February, 2003, Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer (Q810847.exe). The Internet Explorer problem occurs if a Web site calls the removeNode method in script code on a cached function pointer on the element style object. In this case, the access violation is more likely to occur as more function pointers on the Web page are dynamically created and then removed with the removeNode method"<BR/><BR/>And I thought poetry was difficult!<BR/><BR/>RobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16166950.post-1155854226610551682006-08-17T23:37:00.000+01:002006-08-17T23:37:00.000+01:00That's very interesting, I've always been attracte...That's very interesting, I've always been attracted to the idea of translation but being typically british I'm not fluent in any other language. Do you think it is possible to do serious tranlation work without knowing the language? I've always been in two minds about it.Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.com