I don’t know why, but I’ve become recently afflicted with a severe case of inarticulate-ness, an experience of total grammatical-breakdown and incoherence which is making itself evident in this very sentence as I write it. Maybe it’s because I’ve been studying too much Spanish in the last few days, obsessively trying to translate Pablo Neruda poems into English. Or maybe it’s because right now I’m getting distracted by the Brazilian couple who audaciously make out in the middle of this beachfront cafe. I don’t know. But, for now, as the very structure of the English language crumbles around me and I wallow in subject-confusion and intimacy-envy, I refer you to the wonderful and inspiring holiday blog of one of the more articulate people I know …
Translating any kind of poetry is an incredibly daunting task. But when you know that you’re translating the work of someone like Neruda, you know it’s worth it. If you really like him, check out Red Poppy at http://www.redpoppy.net. It’s a non-profit set up to create a documentary about him, publish his biography, and translate his works into English.
What a cool project! Thanks for the link!