OFF_NEWS

[art] ohmygod – part 010

in association with

…

OFF_PRESS at the BETWEEN / POMIĘDZY FESTIVAL

click on the poster above to go to the official festival web page (external link)

Lublin – OFF_PRESS running translations workshops

The Future of Poetry: UCL-French Embassy

9 May 2012, 6pm
UCL

The massive growth in creative writing courses in recent years has meant that there are probably more practicing poets at work now than ever before. Yet the position of poetry in relation to the public sphere at large seems to grow increasingly opaque. Is poetry merely a minority leisure activity, or can it still claim to be, as it was for Milton and Wordsworth, a means of understanding the world unrivalled both in its scope and its complexity? With so many new media changing the ways in which we produce and consume texts of all kinds, what is the future of poetry?

Mark Ford (University College London) and Jerôme Game (American University Paris), both published poets as well as university professors, will be in conversation in this second event of this year’s series.

The conversation will be chaired by Judith Palmer, Director of the Poetry Society.

Series

This is the second in a new Conferénce-Débat Series dedicated to the Humanities, jointly hosted by the UCL European Institute and the Embassy of France. These talks, in which distinguished figures from research-intensive universities and the arts in France and from UCL speak and debate (in English), are open to the wider public.

Venue:

Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre
UCL Main Building
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
followed by reception

The event is free, but please let us know you are coming here:

Speakers:

Mark Ford is Professor in the Department of English at University College London, where he teaches and publishes widely on nineteenth-, twentieth- and twenty-first century British, American, and French literature. He has published three collections of poetry, Landlocked (1991), Soft Sift (2001), and Six Children (2011). He has also published a biography of the French writer Raymond Roussel, and a parallel text edition of Roussel’s final poem, ‘Nouvelles Impressions d’Afrique’ (New Impressions of Africa). He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books, and a selection of his reviews and essays have been published in two volumes, A Driftwood Altar (2005) and Mr and Mrs Stevens and Other Essays (2011). He is currently editing an anthology of the poetry of London for Harvard University Press.

Jérôme Game is Associate Professor of Film Studies and Philosophy at the American University in Paris, having previously been Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Humanities at University College London. He has published nine volumes of poetry, as well as poetic texts in anthologies, journals and in audio and video format. His academic research focuses on a theoretical and critical examination of modern culture (cinema, literature, visual arts) around a philosophical reworking of subjectivity and time. He has also published among others on Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy and contemporary literature, text/image relations in 20th century French culture, filmic representations of the body, narrative theory, and the work of Jacques Rancière. His current projects include a study of the links between art and writing today and a collective volume on the concept of intensity in the arts. Since 2004 Professor Game is Associate Researcher at the ‘Centre d’Etudes Poétiques’ (EA1633) of Ecole Normale Supérieure – Lettres & Sciences Humaines, and at the center ‘Recherches sur la Pluralité Esthétique’ (EA1575) of Université Paris 8 – Saint-Denis.

[art] ohmygod – part 009

in association with

Erotejony Grzegorza Kwiatkowskiego / fundacja-karpowicz.org

Erotejony Grzegorza Kwiatkowskiego: wgląd

Czym mogłyby być erotejony? Naturalnie, takim słowem starożytni Grecy się nie posługiwali, choć pod nazwą samych Erotej zwykło się rozumieć helleńskie nabożeństwa ku czci Erosa. Eroteje były świętami inkarnacji, a więc pamiątką narodzin ciała i wspomnieniem jego kolejnych etapów ucieleśniania. Inkarnacja tkwiła u korzeni semantyki literackiej: każda literackość stanowiła wspomnienie ciała, a nawet – jeśli uznać historię literatury za dzieje prowokacji – próbę dotyku tego, co cielesne.

czytaj dalej tu: Karol Samsel: Cieliste

Kup trylogię dwu-języczną tu / buy the bi-lingual trilogy here: Should Not Have Been Born

BETWEEN / POMIĘDZY FESTIVAL – coming up soon!

click on the poster above to go to the official festival web page (external link)

Zuzanna Ogorzewska – five new poems

audiogram

the doctor joked: with such hearing
miss, you qualify for the army
he didn’t know I had taken psychology in 2007
when all the graduates were called up
except for me as I had forgotten
to check out of finland

I concluded: seems it’s still not enough
post regiment in headphones worth 5 zlotys
yes madame, you must accept
your slow loss of hearing
for the good of resonance

because a box like you, miss, can only rumble
you can forget fucking and families
and work is a waste for anyone
who happens to have a voice

and yet if you, miss, are afraid
of exposing yourself to ridicule
out of hunger eat a piece of shell and die alone
please apply two drops to each ear
three times a day until the barricade falls

next I would advise
a cure for the cold, punk rock, hangover and romanticism
and then just calmly
enlist in this world

kitten

autumn has come
the cat`s reaction to LSD has been checked
the animal could not stand on its own four paws
just like józek after the last bender
a village in syria was ambushed, a small siren was caught
I’m still waiting for the planet`s trepanation

the cat trembled like majka to whom we read
st. john’s apocalypse at bedtime
tabby saw the approaching horsemen with needles and squinted his eyes
in grotniki I found a portal leading to kołobrzeg
we entered the schengen zone

the terrible meowing resembled maciek
who sang our own country & western out of tune
and so a crowbar up your ass, a chocolate tomb and overwhelming solitude
all of these were bad trips but what could a cat expect
being filmed by some asshole straight-A chemistry student?

józek got to his feet
majka calmed down after a month
maciek got what was coming, and I woke in the eu
this cat will never rise again, all stripped of his catness
and his vision of doom will not return to the book

here comes the winter, a war with iran and other wild parties
all for the people so leave cats the fuck alone
surprising myself, I applaud the use of torture
against tabby’s butchers, each of us
keeps in a closet a private guantanamo

Tola

I’m not sure I can stand you saying
you don’t like reading
I may have to stop you playing disco
dress you all in black
and you won’t be yourself

you know Tola
that’s what you’ll be called
me, I’m always army boots and death disco
fuck the system – the only reasonable option

I would like you to be wise and beautiful
when I was your age I was neither
wise nor beautiful
it must be a wonderful feeling
but you put in so little effort

if you are ever born
know that it runs in our family
you must love yourself
to spite me

to se ne vrati

they say it won’t come in useful and are right
meal is better than metaphors, a poem
like a piece of cake

paradoxically
any man who can be seduced with poetry
is a pitiful thing
not that he should start waving guns about
real balls are something those chinese students had
when they stuck flowers into the barrels of tanks

naturally work
is acceptable only when
it brings real fruits, anyone who’s tried
tossing words into a blender knows
no juice will come out
only gibberish

they say poems are only good for wiping your ass
which is nice
knowing they have some use at least
though of course it’s nothing compared
to the oracle who in hexameter
declared the fates of the world

poets have never had it easy
he who attempts to explain himself in rhyme
will be locked up for certain
though it was not always so

when the sycylians conquered the athenian army
they only let go of those captives
who knew eurypides off by heart
killing the rest

it seems once upon a time it was possible
to live on poetry

remedy

I know you can raise your hand to strike
either me or a guitar string
to draw the most tender sound and what is the difference
between hitting a woman and smashing a guitar?

I don’t know which one of us is better
either for loving
or for receiving treatment
I once convinced you to see a psychiatrist
he told you to leave me

poems translated by Zuzanna Ogorzewska and Marek Kazmierski

Zuzanna Ogorzewska (1983), a psychologist by profession, a layabout by nature. Poet and author of the volume “Pomidor i inne techniki przetrwania”. Winner of several literary competitions, tournaments and poetry slams. Her work has been published in “Opcje”, “Tygiel Kultury” and various on-line portals (including wakatonline.pl, odra.pl, cycgada.pl).
Zuzanna Ogorzewska (1983), z wykształcenia psycholog, z zamiłowania leń. Poetka, autorka tomiku “Pomidor i inne techniki przetrwania”. Laureatka kilku konkursów, turniejów i slamów poetyckich. Wiersze publikowała w “Opcjach”, “Tyglu Kultury” oraz na różnych portalach internetowych (m.in. wakatonline.pl, odra.pl, cycgada.pl).

…

Maria Jastrzebska at Fabrica

Maria will be animateur/artist in residence at Fabrica Art Gallery 40, Duke St in Brighton from April 14 to May 27th during an exhibition in the gallery of a film made by the Otolith Group about poet and artist Etel Adnan – an amazing & and interesting figure.

The preview is Friday April 13th 6-9pm

click image above for external link to Fabrica website for more info

Jacek Dehnel / a new poem

Before the sentence

We emptied both rooms, the kitchen, hallway and bathroom,
there being no end to the things of the dead.

Ripping their postcards, we catch scraps of words and they’re there again,
younger, more alive, busy with the world.

the earth it shakes – says Boa Sr,
the last Andaman woman to speak
this sixty five thousand year old tongue –
when a tree falls with a mighty bang

Warsaw, 29 I 2012

translated by Marek Kazmierski and Wioletta Grzegorzewska

*Boa Sr. (Circa 1925 – 26 January 2010) was an Indian Great Andamanese elder. She was the last surviving person who remembered any Bo, a language of the Great Andamanese language family.

Jacek Dehnel (born 1980 in Gdańsk), is a poet, writer, translator and painter. He has published six collections of poetry, two in translation, six prose works (two collections of short stories, a volume of short prose illustrated with photographs, a collection of novellas and two novels). Winner of The Koscielscy Prize (2005) and Paszport Polityki (2006), twice nominated for the prestigious Nike Prize, among others. He lives in Warsaw.

Jacek Dehnel (ur. 1980 w Gdańsku), poeta, prozaik, tłumacz, malarz. Wydał sześć książek poetyckich, dwie translatorskie, sześć prozatorskich (dwa tomy opowiadań, tom krótkich próz o zdjęciach, zbiór minipowieści i dwie powieści). Laureat m.in. Nagrody Kościelskich (2005) i Paszportu Polityki (2006), dwukrotnie nominowany do nagrody Nike. Mieszka w Warszawie.

[art] ohmygod – part 008

in association with

Joanna Lech – Nothing of This – available NOW

This young poet from Krakow has already published two highly accomplished volumes of poetry, edited by some of Poland’s most established poets, winning numerous awards and nominations.

The book is presented in a limited edition hand-bound format and contains the poems, available for the first ever time in both Polish and English translations.

ISBN 9780956394675
Genre Poetry
Pages 174
Languages English / Polish

Joanna Lech (born in 1984) – poet, writer, author of the volume Zapaść (Biblioteka Arterii, Łódź 2009; awarded special prize at the tenth edition of the PTWK Prize in the Début of the Year category, shor-tlisted for the Wroclaw Silesius Prize) and Nawroty (WBPiCAK, Poznań 2010; short-listed for the Nike Prize). Winner of numerous national poetry competitions, she received the Grand Prix in the VI edition of the im. R. M. Rilkego Prize in Sopot and the main prize in the XIII edition of the im. Jacka Bierezina Prize in Lodz. She has been published widely, including in the print journals “Studium”, “Tygiel Kultury”, “Akcent”, “Wyspa”, “Ósmy arkusz Odry”, “Arterie”, “Portret”, “Topos”, “Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Czas Kultury”, “Tygodnik Powszechny” and “Kresy”. Her work has been included in the latest anthology of contemporary Polish poetry Poeci na nowy wiek (Biuro Literackie, Wrocław 2010). Originally from Rzeszow, currently living and working in Krakow. www.joannalech.pl

Cena 80.00zl z przesyłką do Polski.

Przelew Santander Bank Plc / sort code 09-06-66 / acc number 42690657 / IBAN GB51ABBY09066642690657 / SWIFT-BIC code ABBYGB2LXXX.

prosimy o przesłanie emaila do info@off-press.org podąjac imie, nazwisko i adres pocztowy.

DOWNLOAD A SELECTION OF POEMS IN ENGLISH AND POLISH HERE

in association with

‘

Adam Wiedemann / The Moon and his critic

The Sun, basking in its own light, gazed down at the Moon with a self-satisfied grin.

The Moon couldn’t face it. Being stared at always made him feel queasy. The Sun always appeared rather icy in attitude, or perhaps it only felt that way at the vast distance which separated them. Then again, it might have been a question of the difference in their potential. The Moon’s literary output was far less substantial, and far less warmly received by critics, who fawned over every new Sun publication while turning up their collective noses at the Moon’s dark musings.

The Sun did make some attempts at maintaining cordial relations with the Moon, but these went nowhere. The Moon fumed in isolation, becoming ever more bitter.

Ireneusz Kurbiel, a renowned literary critic, was perhaps the only friend the Moon had. Kurbiel had devoted his life to the promotion of his works, and though other critics grew to ignore the Moon Kurbiel remained true to his first love. He was thrilled with the complex narrative structures, individual tales seen from pessimistic perspectives suspended in a cosmic void, blending sparkling commentary with changing perspectives of consciousness.

It should be noted that the Moon’s works could never be considered easy to digest, but their intellectual dryness somehow suited Kurbiel’s palate. The Moon’s books tended to languish in unsold piles, while the Sun’s populist products flew off shop shelves in their millions. Kurbiel himself had to take some credit for this imbalance, his convoluted deconstructions only helping to cloud the already murky stories the Moon produced.

The Sun’s outpourings were by comparison based on simpler mechanisms. Readers found them full of the joys of life, brimming with illusory visions of existence without care. His narratives brimmed with wild adventure, the heroes, defined by generic character flaws and superficial beliefs, presented as models to young people. Everyone marvelled at their sensual, spontaneous style, always seeming to defy convention, yet always surrendering to it in the end.

For the inexperienced reader the works of the Sun appeared to be more inventive than those of the Moon, who reached real depths using very few, yet very carefully selected strokes. The literary asceticism the Moon displayed did not in any way mean that his output was any less artistic. He achieved greatness by default, without having to resort to Sun-like pyrotechnics.

The Sun spoilt by the critics. The Moon steeped in misery. This is how literature in those days was divided. The latter’s slim volumes started appearing at ever less frequent intervals. Cultural circles began whispering about the irreversible decline of teh Moon’s creativity, while Ireneusz Kurbiel was forced to confront the possibility of both professional and personal disaster.

Meanwhile, a small publishing house by the name of Cosmos, specialising in limited print run editions of the Moon’s titles, received an unexpected and rather hefty new manuscript. The editor couldn’t contain his joy. The Moon had written a proper novel, one whose narrative was unputdownable. Sensing a best-seller, the editor decided not to share it with Kurbiel until it was actually in the shops, so as not to jinx the new arrival.

A major advertising campaign for the book caught the distinguished critic unawares. Kurbiel, having worked closely with Cosmos for some years, at first felt offended. Being excluded from the editing and publishing processes felt like an insult aimed at him in full view of the literary establishment. Yet, at the same time, there was a ray of hope that this would signal the return of the Moon’s previous creative mastery.

Alas, the book sold in vast quantities. Literary publications and the populist press, usually on the Sun’s side, sang its praises. Kurbiel, however, remained silent.

The literary world poised itself for the publication of his monthly review column in the obscure journal Night. The piece finally appeared, consisting of just two sentences:

The latest work from the Moon, aptly titled “The Sun”, is, apart from all its superficial brilliance, the darkest piece of writing I have ever read. The Moon has come to believe he is the Sun.

Having written these words, the critic threw himself from his own balcony, his death instantaneous.

The Sun could smile once again. The Moon turned its dark side towards it and vanished.

Taken from the collection “Odpowiadania”, published by Rita Baum 2012

Adam Wiedemann, (born 1967 Krotoszyn), Polish poet, novelist, translator, literary and music critic; winner of the Kościelski Poetry Prize 1999, nominated three times for the NIKE, Poland’s top literary prize, also winner of the Gdynia Prize for Literature in 2008 for the volume “pensum”. His work has been published in Tygodnik Powszechny, Oder, Kresy, Nowy Wiek, Czas Kultury, Pro Arte, Kursywa, Ha! Art, Rita Baum and Dziennik Portowy. He has been a regular columnist in the Res Publica Nowa and Przekroj.

Adam Wiedemann, (ur. 24 grudnia 1967 w Krotoszynie), polski poeta, prozaik, tłumacz, krytyk literacki i muzyczny; laureat Nagrody Kościelskich 1999, trzykrotnie nominowany do nagrody Nike. Laureat Nagrody Literackiej Gdynia 2008 za tom Pensum. Publikował m.in. w Tygodniku Powszechnym, Odrze, Kresach, Nowym Wieku, Czasie Kultury, Pro Arte, Kursywie, Ha!arcie, Ricie Baum, Dzienniku Portowym. Był stałym felietonistą w Res Publice Nowej i Przekroju.

visual poetry exchange / London 31 03 12 / RichMix

Use your language, Use your English / Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Dear All,

As some of you know, I will be teaching at Birkbeck’s summer school as long as I can recruit at least five students. Originally the course was only open to English natives, but as the numbers for Polish have remained low, I’ve now been advised that I can recruit non-native English speakers, as long as they take a short translation test (Polish into English) to make sure their written English is at a high enough level.

So if you are interested, or know anyone who might be, please tell me and I’ll send you the test piece. I think this course could be very helpful to Polish people who want to translate texts of various kinds into English.

The course takes place in the second week of July (9th-13th), in central London. There will be four days when I will run translation workshops, focusing on literary and academic translation, and one day when the students are taught editing skills by a different tutor.

The full cost is £400, or £250 for full-time students. There are bursaries to apply for (of about £100 I think). There will no longer be an option to take the exam in Polish.

Please write or call me on 020 7371 1084 if you want to know more. Or follow the link in the message below.

Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Use your language, Use your English

This AHRC-funded training project is for native Anglophones with one or more other language/s at an advanced level – research students and others – who wish to develop their translation and editing skills. All our courses, online and workshops, are delivered by leading professionals. For information, including FAQs, biographies of the tutors and organisers, and further details on each activity outlined below, see link.

Here is information on four activities in 2012, three of which are new.

Use your language, Use your English Summer School 2012

Following the great success of last year’s Summer School, we are delighted to announce the expanded Summer School 2012. This five-day event will take place at Birkbeck University of London (43 Gordon Square WC1H 0PD) on 9-13 July 2012. It comprises courses in translation into English from Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – each language subject to a minimum group-size of five students – and an editing skills course for all. There will also be games, a competition, meet-the-publishers, and guest lectures and workshops.

Full fee: £400; student fee: £250. Bursaries available. Online booking will open on the website in February 2012.

Extracts from the feedback on last year’s Summer School:

‘Thank you so much for a brilliant course. It was wonderful to meet so many inspiring people, both staff & students alike. I felt really privileged to be working with “la crème de la crème” of the translation world.’

‘It gave me confidence & showed me that translation as a career is a feasible option. It also illustrated the wide variety of options open to people with language skills.’

‘I enjoyed everything! It was amazing being able to experience two tutors of translation with their differing styles; being able to prioritise the techniques in two different languages, plus attending all the fascinating talks. The “fun” bits were great too, ie the translation slam & game.’

NB The Summer School is running shortly before the Olympics. Russell Square & environs is a designated area for the press and media (see http://www.london2012.com/making-it-happen/planning-consultations/documents/london-2012-bloomsbury-boards.pdf ). You are therefore strongly urged both to book on the course and to arrange your accommodation as early as possible. There are many hotels in the area, and these are currently taking summer bookings; a list of suggestions is on the website (see http://www.bbk.ac.uk/european/about-us/use-your-language-use-your-english/accommodation-around-birkbeck).

However, both because of the Olympics & because last summer’s feedback included some requests for group accommodation, we have block-booked 30 single rooms in Commonwealth Hall, one of London University’s international student halls for the five nights 8-12 July inclusive, on a first-come-first-served basis. The rooms are fairly basic, ie bed, desk etc with no en-suite and you would share the bathroom & a basic pantry, but they include breakfast, and you can also get dinner in hall by booking on the day for £6 (see http://www.halls.london.ac.uk/visitor/garden/Default.aspx). Further information on this accommodation can be obtained frominfo.gardens@london.ac.uk. To obtain one of these rooms, make sure you tick the box on the online booking form and add £190 to your payment.

Use your language, Use your English online programme (free of charge)

This comprises seven courses in translation into English (from Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) and one course in editing. To register, email: useyourcontact@bbk.ac.uk

Use your language, Use your English Exams

From February 2012, you will be able to take an examination in any of our languages/editing; fee £250. Booking for this too will be online via the website.

Use your language, Use your English Database [DATE]

From March 2012, if you have passed our exam, you will be able to enter yourself on our Database for Academic Translators & Editors [DATE] which will be searched by anyone looking for an excellent Anglophone translator/editor.