Henry Israeli and Claudia Keelan Discuss Translation in Visiting Writers Series

Poetry has the ability to transform language to convey universal human emotions, but maintaining the integrity of a poem through translation is not an easy task. That’s what acclaimed authors Claudia Keelan and Henry Israeli tackled in their roundtable discussion on Nov. 21, hosted by the Creative Writing program. 

Gathering in Hamilton Hall, students had the unique opportunity to discuss the craft of translation with Keelan and Israeli in an intimate setting. Keelan kicked off the event with a discussion of her book Truth of my Songs: Poems of the Trobairitz, who were female troubadours in the 12th and 13th centuries. She explained that the trobairitz were arguing for and against the concept of “fin'amor,” the pure notion of courtly love. Because men primarily controlled the narrative around love, trobairitz were revolutionary women writers in their time. 

 Keelan chose not to directly translate each poem from its original Occitanian, a version of French. Instead, she utilized the same sense of musicality present in the original poems for a modern audience in what one attendee described as a “modern-day rap battle.” Keelan explained that she was partially inspired by the hip-hop music her son listened to. 

Next, Israeli led a discussion on his translations of Albanian poetry, an interest area he picked up as a grad student. Students analyzed two drafts of the same translation published in Israeli’s book Fresco: Selected Poetry of Luljeta Lleshanaku. Israeli broke down the changes he made from the original Albanian poem so it could be understood in English. He noted that Albanian was primarily a spoken language until the 20th century and poetry only recently emerged in the culture, making translation difficult. “The greatest poems are untranslatable,” he noted. “You’re bound to do some damage to the original.” 

After the discussion, guests gathered in Gershman Chapel to hear Israeli and Keelan read their own poetry, and the night concluded with a Q&A. Students asked questions about the writing process, such as knowing when a poem is complete. Israeli commented that writing a poem is like “starting a novel every day,” despite the difference in length. Keelan agreed, noting that with each poem she “tried in [her way] to create a new world.” 

Henry Israeli earned his BA from McGill University and MFAs in poetry and playwriting from the University of Iowa. In addition to his latest book, Our Age of Anxiety (White Pine Press, 2019), he has authored three books of poetry and translated the works of Armenian poet Luljeta Llsehanaku. 

Claudia Keelan has authored eight collections of poetry, including We Step into the Sea: New and Selected Poems (Barrow Street, 2018) and O, Heart (Barrow Street, 2014). She has also received the Cleveland State University Poetry Prize and the University of Georgia Contemporary Poetry Series Award.