Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
What are the politics and ethics of translating ‘witness’ poetry and essays?
Tuesday 1 February 2022 marks one year since the Spring Revolution in Myanmar. It is also the publication date for an anthology featuring voices from the ground of the Myanmar revolution: Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring: Witness poems and Essays from Burma/Myanmar (1988–2021), edited by Ko Ko Thett and Brian Haman.
Join Burma-born poet, editor and translator Ko Ko Thett in conversation with Shash Trevett, a Tamil from Sri Lanka who came to the UK to escape the civil war. A poet and a translator of Tamil poetry into English, Shash is currently working on the anthology Out of Sri Lanka: Post-Independence Poetry in Tamil, Sinhala and English from Sri Lanka and its Diaspora Communities.
We will talk about the importance of translating witness poetry and essays – the politics and ethics, and the challenges, both practical and emotional. Shash and Ko Ko will share their own poetry and explore the influence and interconnections between translation and poetry, as well as their relationship to the countries and languages where they were born but no longer live. The event is chaired by So Mayer.
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What are the politics and ethics of translating ‘witness’ poetry and essays?
Tuesday 1 February 2022 marks one year since the Spring Revolution in Myanmar. It is also the publication date for an anthology featuring voices from the ground of the Myanmar revolution: Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring: Witness poems and Essays from Burma/Myanmar (1988–2021), edited by Ko Ko Thett and Brian Haman.
Join Burma-born poet, editor and translator Ko Ko Thett in conversation with Shash Trevett, a Tamil from Sri Lanka who came to the UK to escape the civil war. A poet and a translator of Tamil poetry into English, Shash is currently working on the anthology Out of Sri Lanka: Post-Independence Poetry in Tamil, Sinhala and English from Sri Lanka and its Diaspora Communities.
We will talk about the importance of translating witness poetry and essays – the politics and ethics, and the challenges, both practical and emotional. Shash and Ko Ko will share their own poetry and explore the influence and interconnections between translation and poetry, as well as their relationship to the countries and languages where they were born but no longer live. The event is chaired by So Mayer.
Subscribe for more videos like this one!
Follow us on Twitter:
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