The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left
Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy Human Rights in Ireland >>
Green MP Proposes Sweeping Reforms to House of Commons in Maiden Speech Sat Jul 27, 2024 19:00 | Sean Walsh The sweeping House of Commons reforms proposed by Green MP Ellie Chowns are evidence that the Mrs Dutt-Pauker types have moved from Peter Simple's columns into public life. We're in for a bumpy ride, says Sean Walsh.
The post Green MP Proposes Sweeping Reforms to House of Commons in Maiden Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Heat Pump Refuseniks Risk £2,000 Surge in Gas Bills Sat Jul 27, 2024 17:00 | Richard Eldred With heat pump numbers forecast to rise, the energy watchdog Ofgem has predicted that bills for those who continue using gas boilers will surge.
The post Heat Pump Refuseniks Risk £2,000 Surge in Gas Bills appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Debt-Funded GB Energy to Bet on the Costliest Electricity Generation Technologies Sat Jul 27, 2024 15:00 | David Turver So much for Labour's pledge to cut energy bills by £300, says David Turver. Under GB Energy, our bills can only go one way, and that is up.
The post Debt-Funded GB Energy to Bet on the Costliest Electricity Generation Technologies appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Christians Slam Paris Opening Ceremony for Woke Parody of ?Last Supper? Sat Jul 27, 2024 13:00 | Richard Eldred Awful audio, bizarre performances, embarrassing gaffes and a woke 'Last Supper' parody that has outraged Christians turned the Paris Olympics opening ceremony into a rain-soaked disaster.
The post Christians Slam Paris Opening Ceremony for Woke Parody of ?Last Supper? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Victorian Laws Against Priests Meddling in Politics Are Now Needed More Than Ever ? To Prevent Imams... Sat Jul 27, 2024 11:46 | Steven Tucker The Muslim Vote wants Labour to abolish Victorian ?spiritual influence? laws that prevent religious leaders from swaying voters, but Steven Tucker argues that in cities like Leicester these laws are more vital than ever.
The post Victorian Laws Against Priests Meddling in Politics Are Now Needed More Than Ever ? To Prevent Imams Doing the Same appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Translations of French poet by Irish writer and critic
national |
arts and media |
press release
Monday July 27, 2009 18:36 by Western Writers' Centre - Ionad Scríbhneoiri Chaitlín Maude - Western Writers' Centre, Galway westernwriters at eircom dot net Canavan Hse., Nuns Island, Galway 087.2178138
![Report this post to the editors Report this post to the editors](../graphics/report.gif)
Fred Johnston's writing turns to France
Writer, founder of the annual Cúirt literature festival and Director of The Western Writers' Centre (Ionad Scríbhneoirí Chaitlín Maude) Fred Johnston has been writing and publishing his poems almost entirely in French for some time now; but it all began with translating short stories of Breton folklore and French poems.
![Click on image to see full-sized version Fred Johnston](../cache/imagecache/local/attachments/jul2009/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_dscf0937.jpg) Fred Johnston He is not the first Irish poet who has abandoned English to write poetry in French. "I found I needed new eyes, as it were. The Irish poetry scene, to me, began to look like a bull-pen. Good poets wrote anyway. But I had experienced too much grubbiness, perhaps. One day I thought: 'We've lost our dignity somewhere.' And I am not alone." A translated French tale appeared in the magazine, Albedo 1. Recently, in Brittany, he began what he calls a test-run towards a possible book of photographs on the Monts Arrée region. And he has just recorded five short programmes for a Breton radio station on Irish culture and heritage.
But this year will see the publication of a longer project when his translations of the Breton-based poet, Colette Wittorski, are finally published.
"We met recently in Brittany - in Huelgoat, the town from which novelist Jack Kerouac's people emigrated in the 18th century - and discussed the final touches," he says. "Colette is a prize-winning poet and her work deserves a wider audience. This dual-language collection, hopefully, will acquire that to some extent."
Working on the project for two years, he found it tough but satisfying. "It was pleasurable, but it was a translation in the real sense, not merely something built on a crib by someone else. Often a phrase would seem clear, then turn out to have several meanings. Anyone who has attempted translation will understand. But finalising each phrase was like opening a window on a new way of seeing things. Colette Wittorski is happy with the end result and that's what matters." It is expected that the book will be launched both in Dublin and in Brittany and further details will be announced.
Fred Johnston's own poems written in French have appeared in, among others, Hopala! (Brittany), L'Empreinte Orange, Fôret de Milles Poètes, Le Cerf-Volant (Paris), Éclats de Rêves, Ouste, In-Fusion, Le Grognard, and here in The Stony Thursday Book and Studies Review. Plans are in motion to bring out a selection of his short stories, translated into French by writer and film-maker, Kristian Le Bras, later this year or early next year. He has read his work at the Franco-Irish Literature Festival in Dublin.
Meanwhile, the Western Writers' Centre is working to conclude the Bus Éireann-sponsored Irish-language poetry project for which they received an award at the end of last year.
![locked](../graphics/lock.gif) We are currently not accepting any more comments on this article.
|
View Full Comment Text
save preference
Comments (9 of 9)