A look back on the first Manchester Translation Series (2023)
March 23rd 2023, saw the first Manchester Translation Series. Conceived by Dr Brian Sneeden and organised at Manchester Poetry Library on the week of World Poetry Day (21st of March), the Series aimed to bring together poets and translators for readings, panels and conversations on topics related to translation, multilingualism and the roles of literature in our current geopolitical moment.
The first Manchester Translation Series welcomed award-winning Arabic language poet Najwan Darwish and translator Kareem James Abu-Zeid to the Manchester Poetry Library for the inaugural event.
Described by the New York Review of Books as “one of the foremost Arabic-language poets of his generation”, Darwish is the author of eight collections of poetry, and his workhas been published in over twenty different languages. His collection Exhausted on the Cross (NYRB, 2021), translated by Abu-Zeid, was awarded the 2022 Sarah Maguire Prize by the Poetry Translation Centre.
About the Speakers
Najwan Darwish is a poet from Jerusalem, Palestine. Darwish has published nine poetry books advocating for justice and peace, which have been translated into over twenty languages. He received the 2022 Sarah Maguire Prize by the Poetry Translation Centre for his poetry collection Exhausted on the Cross.
Kareem James Abu-Zeid is an acclaimed and award-winning translator, editor, teacher, writer, and scholar. Working across multiple languages, his goal is to break linguistic boundaries and promote Arabic literature worldwide.
About the Host
Brian Sneeden is a poet, literary translator, and editor. His poetry and translations from the Modern Greek have received many awards and recognitions, including the Iowa Review Award in Poetry, the NEA Literature Translation Fellowship, the World Literature Today Translation Award for Poetry, and the PEN/Heim Translation Grant. His most recent translation, Giannisi’s Chimera, is forthcoming from New Directions in 2024. He is a lecturer in creative writing and publishing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
