Poetry translator Alexis Levitin gives two lectures
March 22, 2004
KALAMAZOO--A noted poetry translator will visit the campus of Western Michigan University and speak about his craft in presentations Monday and Tuesday, March 29-30.
In a talk titled "The Nitty-Gritty of Poetic Translation," Alexis Levitin will speak in general about translation and then analyze two short poems in detail to show what problems arise, what choices are made and what are the pros and cons. The event begins at 8 p.m. Monday, March 29, in Room 3021 Brown Hall.
Levitin also will read from his new bilingual collection "Forbidden Words: Selected Poetry of Eugenio de Andrade" at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 30, in the Lee Honors College. As part of the reading, Levitin will illustrate the importance of sound in translating this most musical of all Portuguese poets.
Levitin is a professor of English at the State University of New York-Platsburgh and has translated nine previous books of Andrade's poetry.
Both events are co-sponsored by the departments of English and foreign languages, the Lee Honors College and the Diether H. Haenicke Institute for International and Area Studies.
Media contact: Mark Schwerin, 269 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu