EXILE AND ARRIVAL: POETRY TRANSLATION CENTRE’S 20th BIRTHDAY SHOWCASE IN NORFOLK
Exile and Arrival is part of a showcase weekend at the National Centre for Writing in
Norwich, kick-starting the Poetry Translation Centre’s 20th birthday year of celebrations.
Throughout 2024, the PTC will be running events and workshops around England, open to all...
THURSDAY 21st MARCH
Living in Language: World Poetry Day with Yang Lian & Mohan Rana
The Poetry Translation Centre celebrates World Poetry Day with the launch of Living in Language,
a ground-breaking anthology of lyric essays, fragments, letters and new poems from 21 poets from
around the world.
Yang Lian was one of the original Misty Poets who reacted against the strictures of the Cultural Revolution. His work
was criticised in China in 1983 and formally banned in 1989 when he organised memorial services for the dead of
Tiananmen while in New Zealand. He was a Chinese poet in exile from 1989 to 1995, and now lives in Berlin. In 2020 he
won the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation.
Mohan Rana is a Hindi poet raised in Delhi who now lives in Bath. He has published ten poetry collections in Hindi and
has performed widely internationally. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Brian Holton has won prizes for his poetry and for his translations in Scots and English: he and Yang Lian won the
2020 Sarah Maguire Prize for Anniversary Snow. He has also translated Yang Lian’s Venice Elegy (Edizioni Damocle,
2019), and his Narrative Poem (Bloodaxe Books, 2017).
FRIDAY 22ND MARCH
Voices in Exile: An Evening with Maura Dooley, Azita Ghahreman & Elhum Shakerifar
A bilingual evening of poetry with Azita Ghahreman, one of Iran’s leading poets, with her
translators Elhum Shakerifar and Maura Dooley, hosted by George Szirtes.
Azita Ghahreman is an Iranian poet, writer and translator who has lived in Sweden since 2006. Azita is the author of six
poetry collections and three short story collections, and her writing has been translated into 13 languages. Her selected
poems, جمعی دستھ عکس یک نگاتیو or Negative of a Group Photograph (Bloodaxe/PTC, 2018), were translated by Elhum
Shakerifar and Maura Dooley. In 2024, her essay ‘A City Called Exile’ (translated into English by Alireza Abiz) appears
in Living in Language published by the PTC.
Elhum Shakerifar is a poet, essayist and translator, most recently PEN Award-winning, Warwick Prize-
nominated Negative of a Group Photograph by Azita Ghahreman, translated alongside poet Maura Dooley (Bloodaxe
Books, 2018). In 2022, she was one of Writerz & Scribez' inaugural poetry Griots and she was a Visible Communities
resident at the National Centre for Writing in 2023. Elhum is also a BAFTA-nominated producer and curator working
through her London-based company Hakawati ('storyteller' in Arabic). www.hakawati.co.uk
SATURDAY 23rd MARCH
Translate Farsi Poetry with Elhum Shakerifar -Translation offers a new perspective on language
and culture. At this unique Farsi poetry translation workshop, the group will start with a rough
guide translation provided by Elhum Shakerifar, and work towards a translation that works as a
poem in English, guided by experienced poet-facilitator Helen Bowell.
Polylingual Poetry Open Mic
This will be a night dedicated to opening up the Hall to the voices
of Norfolk. The Poetry Translation Centre are looking for poems written in all lnguages, from
Arabic to Zapotec.
The poets and translators are available for interview - please contact
[email protected] for more information
Exile and Arrival is part of a showcase weekend at the National Centre for Writing in
Norwich, kick-starting the Poetry Translation Centre’s 20th birthday year of celebrations.
Throughout 2024, the PTC will be running events and workshops around England, open to all...
THURSDAY 21st MARCH
Living in Language: World Poetry Day with Yang Lian & Mohan Rana
The Poetry Translation Centre celebrates World Poetry Day with the launch of Living in Language,
a ground-breaking anthology of lyric essays, fragments, letters and new poems from 21 poets from
around the world.
Yang Lian was one of the original Misty Poets who reacted against the strictures of the Cultural Revolution. His work
was criticised in China in 1983 and formally banned in 1989 when he organised memorial services for the dead of
Tiananmen while in New Zealand. He was a Chinese poet in exile from 1989 to 1995, and now lives in Berlin. In 2020 he
won the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation.
Mohan Rana is a Hindi poet raised in Delhi who now lives in Bath. He has published ten poetry collections in Hindi and
has performed widely internationally. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Brian Holton has won prizes for his poetry and for his translations in Scots and English: he and Yang Lian won the
2020 Sarah Maguire Prize for Anniversary Snow. He has also translated Yang Lian’s Venice Elegy (Edizioni Damocle,
2019), and his Narrative Poem (Bloodaxe Books, 2017).
FRIDAY 22ND MARCH
Voices in Exile: An Evening with Maura Dooley, Azita Ghahreman & Elhum Shakerifar
A bilingual evening of poetry with Azita Ghahreman, one of Iran’s leading poets, with her
translators Elhum Shakerifar and Maura Dooley, hosted by George Szirtes.
Azita Ghahreman is an Iranian poet, writer and translator who has lived in Sweden since 2006. Azita is the author of six
poetry collections and three short story collections, and her writing has been translated into 13 languages. Her selected
poems, جمعی دستھ عکس یک نگاتیو or Negative of a Group Photograph (Bloodaxe/PTC, 2018), were translated by Elhum
Shakerifar and Maura Dooley. In 2024, her essay ‘A City Called Exile’ (translated into English by Alireza Abiz) appears
in Living in Language published by the PTC.
Elhum Shakerifar is a poet, essayist and translator, most recently PEN Award-winning, Warwick Prize-
nominated Negative of a Group Photograph by Azita Ghahreman, translated alongside poet Maura Dooley (Bloodaxe
Books, 2018). In 2022, she was one of Writerz & Scribez' inaugural poetry Griots and she was a Visible Communities
resident at the National Centre for Writing in 2023. Elhum is also a BAFTA-nominated producer and curator working
through her London-based company Hakawati ('storyteller' in Arabic). www.hakawati.co.uk
SATURDAY 23rd MARCH
Translate Farsi Poetry with Elhum Shakerifar -Translation offers a new perspective on language
and culture. At this unique Farsi poetry translation workshop, the group will start with a rough
guide translation provided by Elhum Shakerifar, and work towards a translation that works as a
poem in English, guided by experienced poet-facilitator Helen Bowell.
Polylingual Poetry Open Mic
This will be a night dedicated to opening up the Hall to the voices
of Norfolk. The Poetry Translation Centre are looking for poems written in all lnguages, from
Arabic to Zapotec.
The poets and translators are available for interview - please contact
[email protected] for more information