dumbfoundry

"Your poems have been published in London under the title "In The Temple of A Patient God". Did the translator Ruth Christie find you or did you find her?

Bejan Matur: I met with Ruth through a book given to me by a professor from Bogazici University that I was asked to deliver to her. She'd already translated Oktay Rifat and Nazim Hikmet. I also gave my books to her as a present. Not long later, I received a letter from Ruth saying she loved my poems and wanted to translate them.

Not many poets get their books translated into other languages. Do you think Ruth would have wanted to translate your poems even if she hadn't met you?

Bejan Matur: If just meeting her were enough, the work of people putting so much effort into publishing their work in other languages would be easy; but it isn't. It is very difficult for poems, which have such a small audience, to exist in another language."

This entry was posted by Ivy on Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 1:34 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.