Specimen

жінка, яку одного разу повітряна тривога застала у ванні, найбільше боялася померти ось так — без трусів, голою, з мокрою головою та неголеними ногами.

боялася, що рятувальники, які діставатимуть її з-під завалів, побачать її біле (кілька років без відпус

D32

Poeti all’attracco con ballate di lago per voce, trombone e percussioni

Asylum From White Rat

Written in English by Gayl Jones

Also in: Italian

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When the doctor coming? When I’m getting examined?

They don’t say nothing all these white nurses. They walk around in cardboard shoes and grin in my face. They take me in this little room and sit me up on a table and tell me to take my clothes

垂直运动

Written in Chinese by Can Xue

Also in: English, German, Italian

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　残雪

我们是生活在沙漠底下的黑土地带的小动物。大地上的人们不会想到，从一望无际的漫漫黄沙往下深入几十米，会存在着这么一大片充满了腐殖质的沃土。我们

Azorean genica

Written in Portuguese by Nuno Costa Santos

Also in: Italian

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Num quarto de hotel em Chambéry, França, debaixo de um céu hesitante entre o cinzento e o azul, faço uma aproximação à melancolia açoriana, sentimento que se a associa ao clima, aos humores escuros da meteorologia, ao embalo espiritual promovido pelas nuvens, p

Отказаният свят

Written in Bulgarian by Georgi Gospodinov

Also in: Swedish, Italian

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Спомням си добре какво си помислих, прекрачвайки за първи път прага на „Парижката Света Богородица”. „Сега тук трябваше да бъде баба ми…” Векът изтичаше в последната си година, претоварена от пророчества и несбъднати апокалипсиси. Помня, че баба ми трийсетин

Lucrecia y nosotras entre nosotras

Written in Spanish by Brenda Navarro

Also in: Italian

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¿A dónde se van las muertas cuando sus cuerpos ya no caminan entre nosotras? Me gusta creer que se quedan en el polvo que se mete en nuestras casas y se impregna en la ropa y está suspendido en el aire que respiramos y se ve cuando el sol cae y la ventana hace

Six Poems by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh

Written in Gaelic by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh

Also in: English, Italian

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Emigrante

An chéad fhómhar di
sa Domhan Úr
bhí fonn uirthi an uile ní
a ainmniú

nó an rud a bhrath
lena méar: caonach,
coirt fhliuch na gcrann,
mogall cnó capaill

a raibh an taobh istigh de
chomh

Tölfræði: Um eyjur í miðju hafi, fámennistungumál og það sérstaka fólk sem kallast þýðendur

Written in Icelandic by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Also in: English, Italian

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Þegar ég var sex ára fékk ég hnattlíkan í afmælisgjöf sem stóð á statífi með peru innan í og hægt var að snúa í hringi. Hönnuðurinn hafði ekki lagt mikla vinnu í eyjuna sem ég bjó á norður við heimsskautsbaug og útlínur landsins voru því ekki nákvæmar, auk þe

Four Poems by Kato Javakhishvili

Written in Georgian by Kato Javakhishvili

Also in: English, French

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მინდვრები

ერთმანეთში შეწვნენ.
დაიკარგნენ და შეწვნენ.
თავები გადაიხოტრეს და შეწვნენ.
მინდვრები გადაძოვეს და შეწვნენ.
შეწვნენ და ბარდის წვნიანით გაბერილი მუცლები მიადეს ერთმანეთს.
კამეჩმა გაიარა და გადაძოვილი მინდვრები გაითრია.
კამეჩმა გა

Das aesthetische Wiesel

Written in German by Christian Morgenstern

Also in: English, Italian

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Ein Wiesel
saß auf einem Kiesel
inmitten Bachgeriesel.

Wißt ihr
weshalb?

Das Mondkalb
verriet es mir
im Stillen:

Das raffinier–
te Tier
tat’s um des Reimes willen.

Remont

Written in Italian by Jacqueline Haener

Also in: English, Serbian, Bulgarian

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Teo

Pomeriggio. Luci soffuse, persiane abbassate, tende chiuse. Gaza in sottofondo. Un po’ di fumo di stufa, fiamme vive nel camino, in fondo silenzio. Suona il telefono e mi dico che devo accoglierlo, affrontarlo. Non ci riesco. Mando un messaggio

A Conversation with Derek Walcott (December 2011)

Derek Walcott and Matteo Campagnoli

Also in: Italian

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In the late autumn of 2011, I’d been commissioned by the “Corriere della Sera” to have a conversation with Derek Walcott as part of a series of interviews conducted by younger writers who had been mentored by famous poets and novelists. I talked to Wal

Fuera de la ley from Las homicidas

Written in Spanish by Alia Trabucco Zerán

Also in: English, Italian

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Asesinas, respondo yo, una y otra vez, cuando me preguntan por el tema de este libro. Estoy investigando casos de mujeres asesinas. Y frente a mí, como un porfiado libreto, se desata la misma escena en cada ocasión. Hombres y mujeres fruncen el ceño, me miran afl

D31

Ambrì – fàura from Tarmacadam: Ventuno incantesimi

Written in Italian by Vanni Bianconi

Also in: French, German

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a Malù

Ambrì è un paesino dell’Alta Leventina, frazione di Quinto, ai piedi del Gottardo e schiena contro schiena col mondo germanico d’oltralpe. Anni fa, osservando come linee di un pentagramma le vie di comunicazione che rigano il fondo di questa valle a

3 Poems by Laura Nieves

Written in Spanish by Laura Nieves

Also in: Italian, German

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Las vacas pastan tranquilas en el campo

saciadas se acuestan sobre la yerba
Apacibles son sus cuerpos
y hermosos sus cuernos de media luna

Estiran sus patas
Frotan su pelaje con sus lenguas rosadas

La inocencia resalta

Mysteriet med de kinesiske lekebilene

Translated into Norwegian by Steinar Lone

Written in Romanian by Florin Irimia

Also in: Romanian, English, German, Hungarian

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Jeg var vel en elleve år gammel den gangen, et uformelig rekel med hender og føtter som hevde rundstykker, men fortsatt ugjæret i hodet, og faren min hadde gitt meg økenavnet Zaikin, etter den russiske bryteren, ikke fordi jeg skulle ha vist noen interesse for

From La Leçon de ténèbres

Written in French by Léonor de Recondo

Also in: Italian, Arabic

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Le 7 avril 1614, Domenikos a reçu l’extrême-onction. Depuis une semaine, il est alité. Les premiers jours de son agonie, l’agitation dans la maison a été à son comble. Maria, sa servante depuis plus de vingt ans, courait d’une pièce à l’autre effrayée par l’i

The Trial From Silence Is My Mother Tongue

Written in English by Sulaiman Addonia

Also in: German, Spanish, Dutch

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Cinema Silenzioso

The night Saba’s trial was announced by the camp’s court clerk, I was sitting on a stool in front of my cinema screen. Cinema Silenzioso. Dusk fell over the thatched roofs. A full moon appeared over the camp I viewed through my scre

Le Tiret d’Alice: a project by the Institut d’étude des intervalles

Written in French by Alice Rivaz

Also in: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Albanian

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Nombreuses dans mon ascendance féminine celles qui furent ménagères, fileuses, horlogères, vigneronnes. Leurs descendantes pénètrent aujourd’hui dans des demeures nouvelles où se dissolvent les épais résidus du passé. Si quelques-unes, en des intérieurs ordonnés d’em

Patológicamente bilingüe

Translated into Spanish by María Lucero Saá

Written in English by Aleksandar Hemon

Also in: English, Italian, Bosnian, French, Polish, Hebrew, Russian

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Todavía me acuerdo como si fuera ayer el día en el que mi padre volvió de
trabajar y me dijo, mientras se sacaba los zapatos en la puerta de casa, que me
había anotado no solo en una biblioteca, sino también en un curso de lengua
inglesa en el

D30

Intro: Persistence of hope / Windrush Poems

Written in English by Inua Ellams

Pumpkin Belly (Memories of 1985)

Three Poems From Mirall de negra nit

Written in Catalan by Jaume Pont

Also in: Italian, French, English

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ILLA ESCRITA

… Altra vegada soc
al lloc on sempre arribo

JOAN VINYOLI

La mirada inventa el món, la llum.
Aquí comença el naufragi de l’ombra
o la secreta deriva dels oc

She Is Another Country

Written in English by Saleh Addonia

Also in: Arabic, Italian, French, Russian

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1

After the authorities refused us asylum and the court of appeal dismissed our appeal, we went underground. The grounds of our applications were to seek Her. In our applications, we stated that in the country where we grew up she was nowhere to be

Barbe Rousse

Written in French by Noëlle Revaz

Also in: Japanese

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Il était une fois une jeune femme qui avaite une barbe. On l’appelait Barbe Rousse. Sa chevelure et ses poils étaient de la couleur des écureuils. Au cours des ans elle s’était peu à peu retirée de la ville et elle avait pris l’habitude de s’endormir dans les bois.

Min fars huvud

Translated into Swedish by Hanna Sandborgh

Written in Russian by Elena Botchorichvili

Also in: Russian, English, Georgian

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Min fars huvud befinner sig på ett berg i Tjatjubetitrakten i närheten av Gori. Där låg tidigare vårt sommarhus, som min far hade byggt, och jag minns hur jag hjälpte honom och hur vi svor och förbannade dessa numrerade stockar, som legat i åratal och torkat o

M’illumino d’immenso Poetry Translation Prize 2023

Written in Italian by Roberto Mussapi and Prisca Agustoni

Also in: Spanish

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Roberto Mussapi
’82. Scirea

Li ricordo avanzare inesorabili,
distendersi con forza alla vittoria finale:
prima, dal buio degli spogliatoi uscivano
incerti, poi iniziarono a vincere,
sempre di più, sempre.
Ricordo Gen

M’illumino d’immenso Poetry Translation Prize 2023

Written in Spanish by Eduardo Lizalde and Daniel Samoilovich

Also in: Italian

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Eduardo Lizalde
Canción del burócrata

Amanuenses amigos, tómenlo seriamente en cuenta:
no pasará a la historia una maldita línea
de todos esos górgoros y espasmos oratorios;
ni una sola frase de toda esa esplendente
bazofia litera

Due lettere From Nella tua breve esistenza, Lettere 1918-1926

Written in Italia by Ada and Piero Gobetti

Lettera 84 (p. 193-195 della presente edizione). Piero a Ada

Torino, 19. luglio. [1920] ore 19

Ti scrivo da Torino. Partiremo domani. Così ho potuto fare in modo che presto mi si manderà da Parigi il Laberthonnière, e h

La passe imaginaire

Written in French by Grisélidis Réal

Also in: Italian

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Genève, samedi 17 mai 1986

Ah, mon cher Jean-Luc !
C’est inimaginable ! Foudroyant ! Je suis tombée amoureuse.
Oui c’est de la folie, une folie féroce, muette, incrustée comme une pieuvre géante au profond de mon co

D29

Včasih dihaš kot morje and Osmrtnica

Written in Slovenian by Nika Gradišek

Also in: English, Portuguese, Spanish

Alfa, Flegmatikas and Sustok, akimirka žavinga

Written in Lithuanian by Juozas

Also in: English, Portuguese, Spanish

A Carcrush, Joe and Modern Rivalry

Translated into English by FLUP

A Letter to Werner Herzog: In Praise of Rapturous Truth

Written in English by Roger Ebert

November 17, 2007

Dear Werner,

You have done me the astonishing honor of dedicating your new film, “Encounters at the End of the World,” to me. Since I have

Trittico dell’isola

Written in Italian by Franco Buffoni

Also in: English

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Dove il fiume fa l’ansa

Per me tu sei rimasta dove il fiume fa l’ansa,
La corrente l’isola le rapide dicevi
Si vedono meno quando è in piena,
L’impeto confonde tutto
E quanto tu gli porti lui si prende,
Non se ne accorge.<

6 poesias

Written in Romansh by Leta Semadeni

Also in: German, Italian

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Scriver poesias

Mincha pled
na tschernü
sbraja

Mincha pled
sbüttà
sbraja

Mincha pled
chi resta
cloma

A quels na tschernüts
A quels sbüttats

E tuot ils pleds
paisan
listess

*

Taklamakan

Minchatant
Ta

Invocation. Forth Islands, Scotland

Written in English by Cal Flyn

Also in: Italian

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It is cool in the tunnels, not cold as it was outside. And dark, very dark. The air is almost still, but not quite – there’s a trace of movement that scuffs the leaves that lie in low drifts along the edges where wall meets floor. Perhaps it’s this that gives

D27

Poems from the “litafrika” exhibition

Curated by Strauhof Zurich, the Litar Foundation, Specimen

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Table
of
Contents

Ours to Plough, Not to Plunder

Written in English by Niyi Osundare

Is Shallow Pan-Africanism Good Enough?

Written in English by Taban Lo Liyong

5 Poems

Written in Bulgarian by Nikola Petrov

Also in: Italian, Spanish

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Имаш болка срещу всяко лекарство

Имаш рана срещу всяка превръзка,
огън срещу всеки мехлем.
Но единствено ти ще отидеш
с мрежестата торбичка
рано сутрин.

Рано сутрин, преди да се събудим,
слагаш си безпомощните очила,

From En attendant Heidi

Written in French by Isabel García Gómez

Also in: English, Italian

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Quand je me réveillai, l’après-midi semblait déjà bien entamé. Je me levai et m’approchai du garde-corps.

En bas, la piscine se remplissait avec nonchalance des corps reposés par la sieste. Les membres s’étiraient dans l’eau, les mouvements étaient encore

العرب في رومانيا: قصة حب شرقية

Translated into Arabic by Mahmoud Hassanein

Written in German by Dana Grigorcea

Also in: German, English, Romanian, Italian

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قبل ثلاثمائة سنة جاءت أول آلة طباعة بحروف عربية إلى سوريا. كانت هدية رومانية للمسيحيين العرب في أنطاكية. ظلت آلة الطباعة تعمل ثلاثمائة سنة، وكان يمكن رؤيتها حتى وقت قريب في حلب. لا تمثل رومانيا استثناءً بين دول شرق أوروبا التي تجد صعوبة في قبول كوتة أوروبية لتوزي

3 Poems from Niemandsgesänge

Written in German by Andreas Moser

Also in: French, Italian

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Anemone

Niemand riecht an Anemonen,
Ohne dass ihr Duft die Seele weckt,
Angehaucht vom Heimweh, das in ihnen steckt.

Reine Purpurwasser wohnen
Nah am Wind, der deren Atem ist,
Hier, wo aller Geist zu Morgentau zerfliesst.

Hier

El corazón del daño

Written in Spanish by Maria Negroni

Voy a crear lo que me sucedió.
-Clarice Lispector

Advertencia

La literatura es la prueba de que la vida no alcanza, dijo Pessoa.

Puede ser.

Más probable es que la vida y la literatura, siendo ambas insuficientes, alumbren a v

Juramento a la reina from Lucifer Over London

Translated into Spanish by Paula M. Crescimanna

Written in English by Xiaolu Guo

Also in: English, Italian

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Una vez, cuando todavía vivía en Pekín en la década del noventa, vi un documental breve de la reina Isabel II dando un discurso. Me desconcertó su forma de hablar el inglés, aunque no le entendí ni la mitad de lo que estaba diciendo. Noté que los labios casi ni

From “Chatiment (1)” in Émail Diamant

Written in French by Fabienne Radi

Also in: Italian, German

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Quand les panneaux publicitaires commencent à se multiplier derrière la vitre, je comprends que la fin du voyage est proche. C’est le moment d’aborder un détail qui me turlupine depuis que nous avons passé la frontière, et qu’il va bien falloir régler : dans un de

From Besuch bei Zerberus

Written in German by Anne Weber

Also in: French, English

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Ich wohne in einem Zimmer mit vergitterten Fenstern. Von meinem Plastikstuhl aus sehe ich, wie die Gitter das Meer in dicke blaue Scheiben schneiden. Am Ende des Kaps von Cerbère steht man, wie überall auf der Welt, zwischen zwei Friedhöfen, zwischen zwei Men

Die Kreuzung

Written in German by Lukas Bärfuss

Also in: English, Italian

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Wohin er wohl fährt, unser guter Schweingruber auf seinem Mofa? Hat er überhaupt ein Ziel, und wo könnte es sich befinden, oder kurvt er einfach nur durchs Dorf und sucht einen Ausweg aus diesem Universum? Aber es gibt keinen Ausweg, und du und ich, Anna, wir

From Ganbare! Warsztaty umierania

Written in Polish by Katarzyna Boni

Also in: Czech, English, German, Japanese

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Ganbare! to od 11 marca 2011 roku najczęściej powtarzane słowo w Tōhoku – zniszczonym przez tsunami północno-wschodnim regionie Japonii.

Zapisywane na tablicach ustawionych wzdłuż dróg, drukowane w lokalnych gazetach, wypowiadane przez przedstawicieli rządu, arty

Paralelna geografija from Ništa nije ničije

Written in Serbian by Bojan Savić Ostojić

Also in: German, French, Italian

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Kod mene je barem jasno. Na levu nogu ustanem kad ne zabeležim san. Jutros sam džabe ustao u pola osam, sveska je džabe sedela na noćnoj stolici pored lampe, sa olovkom udenutom unutra kako ne bih morao da napipavam po mraku. Iz sna sam se sećao samo banalnog pokre

Uscita from Hayatın Sessizliğinde

Translated into Italian by Giulia Ansaldo

Written in Turkish by Aslı Erdoğan

Also in: Turkish, English, French

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Mettersi in viaggio… il primo vento forte che spira da nord ti ha riempito di nostalgia per i mari aperti. Spegni nel posacenere la sigaretta fumata a metà. Svuoti i bicchieri, getti nella spazzatura gli avanzi di tanti anni. Alla svelta impacchetti i ricordi, col

Leer y traducir: prepararse para la perplejidad

Written in Spanish by Ariel Dilon

Also in: Italian

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Sin duda la traducción literaria es un asunto a la vez muy serio y muy peligroso del que seguro ningún traductor sale del todo indemne. He aquí una reflexión que, con gran experiencia, profundiza en ese arte, que también es un oficio, en el que se requiere domin

From Comme un ciel en nous

Written in French by Jakuta Alikavazovic

Also in: Italian, Bosnian

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Ils sont plusieurs à m’accueillir, à m’escorter, à se réjouir avec moi, pour moi, de l’expérience qui m’attend. Leur sincérité me touche. Je leur suis reconnaissante. Au cœur de ma reconnaissance, il y a déjà l’envie de les voir partir, l’envie d’être seule. Cela ne

Miseria y esplendor de la traducción

Written in Spanish by José Ortega Y Gasset

Also in: English, French, Portuguese

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1. La miseria

En una reunión a que asisten profesores del Colegio de Francia, universitarios y personas afines, alguien habla de que es imposible traducir ciertos pensadores alemanes y propone que, generalizando el tema, se haga un estudio sobre qu

From Fantômes – L’hiver

Written in French by Hamid Saidji

Also in: English, Italian

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Jeffrey le propriétaire du Glam, bar culte de l’East Village, tentait de convaincre Roman depuis longtemps de prendre un chien sous prétexte que celui-ci l’aimerait toujours, quoi qu’il arrive. Il posa un verre de whisky devant lui, sur le comptoir, suiv

New Voice Project: Call For Swiss Writers

Written by Specimen

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We are delighted to announce that Specimen is one of five independent literary magazines and platforms partnering with Chinese literary journal One-way Street on its exciting New Voice project.

One-way Street Journal is owned by O

From Les Billes du Pachinko

Written in French by Elisa Shua Dusapin

Also in: English, Italian

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Plus tard, mon grand-père fume sur le balcon de notre chambre. Je le rejoins. Les dernières traces de soleil luisent derrière la porte aquatique. Hiroshima dans l’ombre, au loin. Nous observons la navette ramener derniers touristes et pendulaires de l’autre côté de

Puma

Written in Italian by Anna Felder

Also in: German, French

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La mia Mariella questa mattina rastrellando le foglie davanti a casa, mi racconta che la notte scorsa verso l’una ha sentito dei rumori nel giardino vicino, dove abita il Vincenzo con il cane.

Si è alzata e al buio è andata alla finestra a vedere che

Comrades in Extinction

Written in English by Radha D’Souza and Jonas Staal

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This publication by the Court for Intergenerational Climate Crimes (CICC) consists of an ancestral ecology of species of animals and plants that have been made extinct due to intergenerational climate crimes. According to the International Union for Conservation

Veinticinco and Cuarenta y tres from Centuria

Translated into Spanish by Joaquín Jordá

Written in Italian by Giorgio Manganelli

Also in: Italian, Bulgarian, English

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Veinticinco

El señor vestido con un traje azul un poco ajado, que cruza en este momento la calle mal iluminada, se tambalea un poco, en realidad está totalmente borracho, y no tiene más intención que la de llegar a casa. No es extraño que esté borrac

From Manifeste incertain 9

Written in French by Frédéric Pajak

Also in: Italian, Portuguese

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Le ciel se déshabille, jette ses guenilles blanches ourlées de grisaille. Sur sa peau d’azur se glisse l’univers qui, l’après-midi encore, n’était qu’une tache de couleur sur l’infini. Nous l’avons appris par cœur, ce grand ciel ouvert, avec sa galaxie, avec se

Just a little fever

Written in English by Sheila Heti

Also in: Italian

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She was shampooing her hair with cherries. It was entirely her idea to do it—she hadn’t read about it anywhere. She had taken the little cellophane sack of cherries out of her bag and put the cherries in a wooden bowl and pounded them down with a flat, broad spoo

Ways of swimming

Written in Polish by alicja ariel rosé

Also in: English, German

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dla Adama Zagajewskiego
dla Evy Vēvere

Trzy drogi wiodą do morza. Możesz iść prosto w dół, mijając domy, których okna są niewolnikami morza, przykute do morza, pożerają morze codziennie, bez przerwy lub są jego bezwolnym odbiciem, obojętnym, apatycznym, se

Cinco poemas from The Tunnel

Translated into Spanish by Martina Engelhardt

Written in English by Russell Edson

Also in: English, French

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Las aventuras de una tortuga

La tortuga carga su casa sobre la espalda. Ella es la casa y también la persona que vive en la casa. Pero, en realidad, debajo del caparazón hay un cuartito donde la verdadera tortuga, en camisón largo, se sienta delante de

A outra razão de Alonso Quijano

Written in Portuguese by José Saramago

Also in: Italian

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Todos sabemos como a história começa: naquele lugar de La Mancha, cujo nome nunca viremos a conhecer, vivia um fidalgo pobre chamado Alonso Quijano que, um dia, em consequência do muito ler e do muito imaginar, passou do juízo à loucura, tão naturalmente como q

Libretto di transito

Written in Italian by Franca Mancinelli

Also in: English, Spanish, Macedonian, Russian, Swedish

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La sera, con una sigaretta tra le dita, guardando il cielo scurirsi come terra bagnata, mio padre annaffia. Quando è laggiù, nascosto dalle piante dei pomodori nell’angolo più lontano del giardino, posso sentire dal pozzo l’acqua versarsi e scendere tra i granu

لغات المكسيك الأصلانية تكتب رسالتها إلى المجوس الثلاثة

Translated into Arabic by Shadi Rohana

Written in Spanish by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar

Also in: Spanish, English, Chatino

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أعزائي المجوس الثلاثة،

خلال هذه السنة كنّا، نحن اللغات الأصلانية، أولاد شاطرين. شو نحكي لكم! منذ خمس مئة سنة ونحن، رغماً عن كل شيء، نتصرف مثل الأولاد الشاطرين. لذا، يعني، قد تكون مطالبنا للكريسماس هذا العام كثيرة الغلبة بعض الشيء… لكن لا شك لدينا بأنكم أنا

Partire il pomeriggio

Written in Italian by Ubah Cristina Ali Farah

Also in: English, Dutch

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Diversi anni fa, mentre lavoravo a un progetto sulla memoria con un gruppo di giovani rifugiati somali che frequentavano la scuola di italiano Asinitas a Roma, mi fu proposto di partecipare alla rubrica Dizionario del programma radiofonico Fahrenheit. Settimanalmente,

Three short essays on Pier Paolo Pasolini

Written in English by Saleh Addonia

Mamma Roma

1985, and Mother returns to our refugee camp in Sudan to take us to Saudi Arabia after many, many years of absence where she was working as a servant to a Saudi princess. On our way to Khartoum, we stop for a few months in the city of Kassala.

O vento noroeste

Written in Portuguese by Vinicius De Moraes

Also in: Italian

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Ou muito me engano (e nesse caso corrija-me o Gabinete de Meteorologia) ou foi mesmo o Vento Noroeste que se pôs desde dez horas de anteontem a soprar sobre a cidade, secando o coração das gentes. O vento desceu subitamente do céu da madrugada, onde brilhava, numa

D26

Poems from Il tempo di una cometa

Written in Italian by Stella N’Djoku

Poems from Einen Knochen tauschen wir and Die Frau mit dem violetten Herzen

Written in German by Meret Gut

From In der Fremde sprechen die Bäume arabisch

Written in German by Usama Al Shahmani

Also in: English, Italian

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Was waren denn Wurzeln? Haben wir Menschen auch welche? Konnte ich verbindlich behaupten, dass ich ein Iraker war? Und was würde sich ändern, wenn ich kein Iraker wäre? Ich freute mich über den schönen Baum, und es war mir egal, ob seine Wurzeln in Europa oder

الغُرَابُ الذِي أحبني

Written in Arabic by Baraka Sakin

Also in: French, Italian, German

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قَادِمٌ أنَا مِنْ بَاريِسْ، في رحلةِ عملٍ روتينيةْ، التقيتُ به صدفةً، عِند مدخل محطة القطار في مدينة غراتز Graz بالنمسا؛ ليس بعيدًا عن الباب الإلكتروني الزجاجي الضخم، الذي يفصل خارج المحطة عن داخلها، بيده اليمنى يحمل سيجارة وقد احترق معظم

D25

L’elegante escursionista di mondi esilaranti

Written in Italian by Luciana Cisbani

La chaise de Calvin from Safari

Written in French by Laurence Boissier

Le trou noir, Le pré and Le cabinet du docteur from Inventaire des lieux

Written in French by Laurence Boissier

Le livre que personne ne lisait jamais

Written in French by Laurence Boissier

Also in: English, German, Italian

M’illumino d’immenso Poetry Translation Prize 2022

Written in Italian by Franco Marcoaldi and Donata Berra

Also in: Spanish, Arabic, German

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Franco Marcoaldi

Ci fosse stato il tempo
di trattenerla nella macchia
la giovane cerbiatta sarebbe ancora lì,
tranquilla, a brucare il dragoncello.
Se fosse stato bello la signorina al banco
ora sarebbe felicemente piena d

Huil niet, je bent nu mijn vrouw from Sovjetistan

Translated into Danish by Maud Jenje

Written in Norwegian by Erika Fatland

Also in: Norwegian, English, Italian, Spanish

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De negentienjarige Mariam had zich klaargemaakt voor het verlovingsfeest van haar beste vriendin. De datum voor de bruiloft was vastgelegd, en Mariam zou getuigen. Ze kende de aanstaande bruidegom niet heel goed, maar haar vriendin zag er sinds tijden weer gelukkig

Vivre prés des tilleuls. Par Esther Montandon

Avant-propos

Lorsque Esther Montandon m’a laissé la responsabilité de ses archives, en 1997, je me suis trouvé face à une masse de documents divers : cartes postales, pièces administratives, courriers, coupures de journaux… À quoi s’a

ظل الفراشة

Written in Arabic by Odai Alzoubi

Also in: English, Danish, Japanese

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“لا أعتقد أن الأمر يتعلّق بالسن. أنا الآن في الأربعين، وما زلت حائراً. عندما كنت مراهقاً، اعتقدت أن الأربعينات بعيدةٌ جداً جداً. لم أفكر حتى فيما يمكن حدوثه. مع دخولي عالم العمل في بداية عشرينياتي، كنت واثقاً أن الزمن سيصقلني. في الأربعين، سأكون رجلاً و

Kommando Dürrenmatt

Written in French by Mathias Énard

Also in: German, Italian

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Das geit es zytli, Mila.

Mila passa l’index droit sur la culasse de l’arme pour en retirer l’excès d’huile. Puis elle dessina un V de graisse sur le mur de béton du sous-sol pour s’essuyer ; elle manœuvra le levier de chargement, vérifia que les cartouc

Un verre de colère

Translated into French by Alice Raillard

Written in Portuguese by Raduan Nassar

Also in: Portuguese, English, Italian

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L’ARRIVÉE

Et quand j’arrivai en fin d’après-midi chez moi, au kilomètre 27, elle m’attendait déjà marchant sur le gazon, elle vint m’ouvrir le portail pour que j’entre avec la voiture, et dès que je sortis du garage nous montâmes ensemble l’escalier

Matrimonio del cielo y la tierra

Written in Spanish by Pablo Ingberg

Also in: English, French

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Salgo a caminar sin rumbo fijo
por el centro histórico: la arcada
de un edificio antiguo me revela
en su interior un patio con rumores
de alegría: una novia blanco nieve
y su oscuro consorte fotogénicos posan
mientras dos ang

2 poems from “Bajo los párpados de quien se aleja”

Written in Spanish by Rafael-José Díaz

Also in: French, English

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QUÉ prisa les ha dado últimamente a los padres
de todos mis amigos por morirse,
como si fuera este el momento en que dejarnos a solas con nosotros mismos,
lo prometido desde nuestras cunas,
la abolición de los consejos
con que sie

“Above the Sea” and “Speculative”

Written in English by Peter Robinson

Also in: Italian, French, German

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ABOVE THE SEA

In a bar above the sea at Sori,
overwhelmed by all its bay
held in the light of sensations that day,
I was gazing at sailboats, swimmers and the rocks …
You told me it’s where you wrote your diary
and I th

From Buchi

Translated into German by Marianne Schneider

Written in Italian by Ugo Cornia

Also in: Italian, French

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Und Mamas Tod? (gestorben am 11.? November 95): dran denken viele Jahre lang, dran denken – heute vor drei Jahren ist Mama gestorben – heute vor zwölf Jahren ist Mama gestorben – werde ich dieses Datum je vergessen? Du rufst Tante Bruna an,

D24

The Prisoner’s Tale from Refugee Tales: Volume IV

Written in English by Christy Lefteri

Also in: Italian

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I’ve never met Lily and she will be fifteen soon. Beautiful Lily, sweet Lily, with the silent voice. She does not speak but she is very intelligent.

I didn’t want to meet her for the first time in detention, that would have been a re

From Beyrouth 2020 : Journal d’un effondrement

Written in French by Charif Majdalani

54

Mardi 4 août, 18 h 07. Je travaille sur la terrasse où j’ai achevé le chapitre sur les préparatifs de départ de Sabine. Avant de poursuivre le suivant dont j’ai écrit les premiers mots, je me lève et m’apprête à rapporter à la cuisine une assiette de f

Kyiv: A War Diary

Written in German by Yevgenia Belorusets and translated into English by ISOLARII

Also in: Greek, Italian

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (DAY 1): THE BEGINNING

A man carries his child on his way to the shelter. [photo: Yevgenia Belorusets]

–

Today I woke up early in the morning to see eight unanswered calls on my cell phone. It was my parents an

From Jinlar Bazmi

Written in Uzbek by Abdulhamid Izmailov

Ulak

O‘sha yil kuz o‘zgacha chiroyda keldi.

Shahar kezib Ko‘kchadagi yangi tushgan tramvay bekatidan huvillagan ko‘chalar bo‘ylab uyga qaytasanmi, Samarqand Darvozadagi sinchu guvala devorlar ortiga ko‘z qirini tashlaysanmi, toliqib o‘z bog‘ingga

Zwei Gedichte from Zündkerzen

Written in German by Durs Grünbein

Also in: English, Italian

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Der Fremde

Das Meer riecht fischig, weht der Wind landein.
Die Hände sehen unter Wasser aus wie Flossen.
Zwei tiefe Züge, und du bist der Zackenbarsch,
Der schon seit Jahren einzeln lebt am Grund.

Sie machen Feuerwerke am Strand, gr

Abaturanyi babi from Humura

Written in Kinyarwanda by Olivier Uwineza Bahizi

Also in: English, French

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Claude arikokomora, maze areba Mutoni mu maso, bayahuje abona ko yagize ubwoba. Ariko nta cyari kikimuhagaritse. Yashakaga kubimubwira ngo batazongera kubisubiraho ukundi.

– Noneho reka ngutangirire uko ibyo mu rugo iwacu byagenze! Mu karere k’iwacu ha

മൃദുവാകണെ, എന്നില്‍ അലിവൂറണേ

Translated into Malayalam from the English version by V. M. Girija

Written in Italian by Mariangela Gualtieri

Also in: Italian, English, German

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6.

മൃദുവാകണെ, എന്നില്‍ അലിവൂറണേ.
ഇല്ലിനിയേറെ നേരം നമുക്ക്,
പോകെ കാലം നമ്മള്‍ മാറിടുമല്ലോ തൂവെട്ട വഴികളായ്.
മര്‍ത്ത്യരെക്കുറിച്ചേറെ ഹൃദ്യമായ് ആലോചിക്കും,
ഇപ്പോള്‍ നാം അപാരതയെപ്പറ്റി പറയും പോല്‍.
നമുക്കുണ്ടാവില്ലല്ലോ കൈകള്‍ അന്നേരം.
പത

D22

Україна/Ukraine/უკრაინა/Ucraina: Ukrainian poets on war

Edited by Elena Botchorichvili

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Table
of
Contents

An Open Bleeding Wound of the World

Она говорит: у нас в доме нет правильного подвала

Written in Russian by Anastasia Afanasieva

From Жужуна Цвима (Мелкий дождь)

Written in Russian by Elena Botchorichvili

From Maintenant et à l’heure de notre mort

Translated into French by Elisabeth Monteiro Rodrigues

Written in Portuguese by Susana Moreira Marques

Also in: Portuguese, English, Italian

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Sur la petite table de nuit, une montre scande les heures des médicaments. Nul ne semble noter l’ironie d’avoir une montre au chevet d’un moribond.

—

Dans le pays où elle a émigré, on dit que les gens vont au ciel. Chez elle, enfant, elle entenda

From The Book of Collateral Damages

Written in Arabic by Sinan Antoon and translated into English by Jonathan Wright

Also in: Italian

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Did I tell you that I can hear things speaking? Yes, I can hear what they say. They know me and sometimes they call me by name and beg me to listen. Sometimes they talk like people, slowly and with a logic that’s easy to understand. But they can also groan an

Détartre et désinfecte

Written in French by Éric Chevillard

Also in: English, Italian

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On me parle et je ne comprends rien. Et quand je crois comprendre, je comprends mal, je comprends de travers, je comprends autre chose. Mieux vaut encore ne rien comprendre du tout. J’ai une satisfaction pourtant, je ne suis pas seul dans ce cas. Ainsi

Five Poems from Lies

Written in Gaelic by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

rave

coschleiteach ar chosán
damhsaímid abhaile
le breacadh an lae,
dúidín deiridh na hoíche
á roinnt eadrainn,
dall ar shuansiúlaithe na traenach
beocht an doird fós ar preabadh
i gceol ár gcuislí
is dúgh

¿Por qué se dio vuelta Orfeo?

Translated into Spanish by Belén Grosso

Delivered in English by Asli Erdoğan

Also in: English, Italian

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The City in Crimson Cloak es un libro muy viejo; lo escribí hace ya veinte años, a los treinta. Todavía era joven, pero estaba al borde de la muerte. Cuando volví de Río, tuve un problema de salud muy grave: me estaba desnutriendo por motivos que n

Le divers des cultures est le présent du monde from Moïse ou la Chine

Written in French by François Jullien

Also in: Italian

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Le divers des cultures est le présent du monde, à la fois son actualité et sa richesse. Moment fragile et fécond que le nôtre : le monde se croise suffisamment, désormais, pour que se rencontre sa diversité ; et celle-ci n’est pas encore enfouie sous le roulea

Iguanas y dinosaurios: América Latina como utopía del atraso

Written in Spanish by Juan Villoro

Also in: English, German

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A los cuatro años me encontré ante una disyuntiva que decidió mi vida. En el Colegio Alemán de la ciudad de México fui sometido a una prueba que no recuerdo pero que provocó que yo quedara en el Grupo A, es decir, en el de los alemanes. Durante nueve años sólo ll

Как мой отец подарил мне детство

Written in Russian by Elena Botchorichvili

Вот тогда я усадил ее на пуфик перед зеркалом. Обнял. Она обожала, когда я ее обнимал, целовал. Тут же начинала плакать: «Мой сыночек, мой красавчик, какой ты уже большой! Скоро женишься, что со мной будет? Забудешь свою мамочку, жена будет тебе мозги крутить!»

<

Prince of Asturias Award for Literature 2011: Acceptance Speech

Written in English by Leonard Cohen

Also in: Italian, Spanish

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Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, Members of the Jury, Distinguished Laureates, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great honour to stand here before you tonight. Perhaps, like the great maestro, Riccardo Muti, I’m not used to standing in fr

Andare a vedere l’invisibile and Il masso erratico from Ufficio proiezioni luminose

Written in Italian by Matteo Terzaghi

Also in: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish

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Andare a vedere l’invisibile

Tra i ricordi di famiglia ho trovato una fotografia della fine degli anni Sessanta che potrebbe intitolarsi «Andare a vedere l’invisibile».

Tommaso d’Aquino – ammesso che non ci stia ricamando sopra – diceva c

5 Gedichte from die stunde mit dir selbst

Written in German by Reiner Kunze

Also in: German, English, Italian

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Verstummen

Die kleinen heimaten in fremden ländern
sind nicht mehr

Das vorratsfach für schwarzumrandete kuverts
ist leer

Die zunge wird vom schweigen schwer

. . .

Euretwegen

Wenn wir die Welt nicht wieder

Recorrido por Estados Unidos

Translated into Spanish by Belén Grosso

Written in English by Nathalie Handal

Also in: English, French, Italian

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Me hace llegar su voz, como lo hace la libertad, cuando abarca todas las rutas del sueño.

¿Cuánto me falta caminar para verle el cuerpo entero?

En la década de 1980, entre Little Havana y la avenida Collins, mi tío comía sándwiches Reuben

D21

Poethreesome 2020/21

Curated by Babel Festival

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Table
of
Contents

6 poesie from In tutte le direzioni

Written in Italian by Laura Di Corcia

Also in: French, German

7 Poèmes from La Saison

Written in French by Rebecca Gisler

Also in: German, Italian

6 Gedichte from Eingesperrte Vögel singen mehr

Written in German by Michelle Steinbeck

Also in: French, Italian

عودة الأبناء غير الضّالين – في الكلام المعاد والمكرور

Written in Arabic by Hoda Barakat

Also in: Arabic, Italian

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لسنا نشكّل جماعة، نحن الذين خرجنا، نحن الذين بقينا خارج البلاد. لا نتشابه ولا تشدّنا أيّة روابط. قلّما نلتقي، وإذا حصل ذلك لصدفة ما، فسرعان ما نفترق ونتفرّق على إشارات من أيدينا بالتهاتف قريبا. ولأننا صرنا نعفي بعضنا بعضا من العتاب الكاذب.

La Traduction sans commune mesure

Written in French by Arno Renken

Also in: French, English

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Pour Raphaëlle,
qui crée la rencontre sans pareille

Ce texte est une traduction : je ne l’ai pas écrit, je ne serais pas même capable d’en comprendre le moindre signe. Ce que tu lis est l’ouvre de quelqu’un d’autre et le rapport avec le texte

Babel from Echolalias. On the Forgetting of Language

Written in English by Daniel Heller-Roazen | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: English, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Swedish

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Everyone knows the tale of the Tower of Babel, that archaic monument to the folly of men. According to the eleventh chapter of Genesis, which recounts the story in the briefest of terms, the edifice did not last long; and in one sense, it did not last at all,

Varietà e oscurità delle espressioni umane: Oltre Babele, il tempo

Written in Italian by Nunzio La Fauci | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Italian, German

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Quando si pensa alla varietà linguistica, la mente corre facilmente a Babele e a tutto ciò che in proposito è stato detto e scritto in migliaia di anni. Babele è il nome di un luogo, come si sa. Per metonimia, tale toponimo è passato a designare un evento: la co

As Translator, as Novelist: The Translator’s Afterword

Written in Japanese by Haruki Murakami and translated into English by Ted Goossen | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: English

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To the best of my recollection, I was in my late thirties when I started telling people I was going to translate The Great Gatsby when I turned sixty. Having made that pronouncement, I then conducted my daily affairs as if I were moving toward that fixed point,

Haruki Murakami and the Culture of Translation

Written in English by Ted Goossen | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: English

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Japanese culture is often characterized as a culture of translation. In fact, the Japanese language of today is the result of centuries of effort by translators struggling to match Chinese characters and Japanese words, affixing native pronunciation in some

La centralità della componente ritmica

Written in Italian by Franco Buffoni | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Italian, English

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Una poesia originale non è una poesia che parli di cose di cui nessuno abbia mai parlato prima. Leopardi è unico quando parla della/alla luna, non perché l’oggetto sia originale (lo troviamo persino nelle lettere che il Colletta gli scrive), ma perché la sua

Lectio magistralis in occasione della consegna del Premio Pavese 2020

Written in Italian by Anna Nadotti | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Italian, Bengali, German

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Dei suoi luoghi d’origine, Cesare Pavese scriveva: «È una terra che attende e non dice parole».

Le Langhe sono una terra bellissima e sobria, che conosco bene e di cui amo i colori e le malinconie. Ma le mie origini sono in una terra che si allunga pigrame

Le transfert d’Averroès from La langue d’Adam

Written in French by Abdelfattah Kilito | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: French, Italian, Greek

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Vers le mois de mars 1199, un cortège funèbre s’ébranla de Marrakech en direction de Cordoue. Durant des jours et des jours, le cortège chemina à travers monts et vallées jusqu’à la Méditerranée puis, ayant franchi le détroit, reprit sa marche lente et pénib

Observations et autres notes anciennes 1947 – 1962

Written in French by Philippe Jaccottet | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: French, Italian, Arabic

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Ces premières « observations » sont des notes, avec tout ce que le mot suppose d’hésitant et d’altérable, en vue d’une étude sur la Métamorphose poétique. Un Sage d’Orient, dont le nom m’échappe, prétendait qu’à force de sentir sous ses doigts, le front dans l

Tradurre Jaccottet

Written in Italian by Fabio Pusterla | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Italian, French

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Una testimonianza, per quanto breve e imbarazzata, sul proprio lavoro di traduzione non può non considerare le condizioni di partenza che hanno propiziato, e forse orientato, quell’esperienza: tanto più se quella di tradurre non è stata una scelta professionale e i

Ruina Belfort

Written in Italian by Fabio Pusterla

Also in: Italian, French

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Camogli: si videro bare
smottare nell’acqua salmastra
discendere dal cimitero
in danza di cenere e d’ossa.

Si vide una ruspa azzannare
il giallo di un muro che a Chiasso
fu un tempo la povera casa
di un padre silenzio d’ab

From Via Lactea

Written in German by Noëmi Lerch

Also in: German, English, Italian

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Verwandlung

Der Wind geht. Der Wind kommt. Die Rinder gehen mit ihm. Ihre Glocken läuten Sturm. Mit vergnüglicher Wut schütteln sie ihre Köpfe, bocken, wie wenn der Wind auf ihnen ritte. Sie galoppieren über die vom Regen sumpfige Herbstweide. Erdsch

The Art of Losing. Polish Poetry and Translation

Written in English by Clare Cavanagh | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: English, Polish

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I’ve called my essay “The Art of Losing” for obvious reasons: according to many critics, losing things is what translators do best. And it seems to me—although this may just be my personal bias—that translators of poetry generally get the worst of it. “Why i

Voyage, écriture, altérité

Written in French by Nicolas Bouvier | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: French, German

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C’est la lecture des atlas, entre huit et douze ans, à plat ventre sur le tapis de la bibliothèque, qui m’a conduit au voyage. Et le voyage, ensuite, à l’écriture.

Au retour d’une absence qui avait duré presque quatre ans et m’avait conduit au Japon, j’ai

From Poesia come ossigeno

Written in Italian by Antonella Anedda and Elisa Biagini | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Italian, English, Sardinian

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A.A. Sono d’accordo: tempi brevi e urlati con punti esclamativi, oppure un linguaggio che non si pone il problema di come parlare davvero della quotidianità. Per questo il lavoro sulla propria lingua non finisce mai. Come diceva Riccardo, c’è un’urgenza di farsi

From Le traducteur

Written in French by Jacques Gélat | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: French, English, Italian

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Je suis un traducteur. Au départ c’est un plaisir qui ressemble un peu au métier de comédien. On doit se faire à l’autre, l’écouter, le comprendre, s’en imprégner, avec cette différence qu’au lieu d’un personnage, c’est un roman qu’il va falloir traduire.

Eileen Myles: Two Poems

Written in English by Eileen Myles

Also in: French, Russian

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Large Large
White Flowers

for Susie Timmons

I’m using this
it’s large
but it could leave it could
change
inside of changing
is hanging
everyone crossing the street
was talking to some
one; alon

La traduction inquiète

Written in French by Mathilde Vischer | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: French, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian

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Dans la petite ville aux maisons basses dans laquelle je vis, j’ai été frappée récemment, en revenant de l’université, par une porte donnant accès à l’une de ces maisons : au-dessus du cadre figuraient les numéros 51 et 2. L’écart entre ces deux chiffres m’e

From Das Gewicht der Worte

Written in German by Pascal Mercier | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: German, Dutch, Turkish

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Deine Übersetzungen habe ich alle gelesen, auch wenn ich es nicht immer sagte. Sie wurden besser und besser, selbständiger, sie besaßen einen eigenen Ton, man konnte sie Nachdichtungen nennen, und ich war nicht erstaunt zu erfahren, dass Du jeweils die

From Sur la traduction

Written in French by Paul Ricoeur | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: French, English, Italian

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Alors, comment font-ils ?

J’ai annoncé tout à l’heure un changement d’orientation : quittant l’alternative spéculative – traduisibilité contre intraduisibilité – entrons, disais-je, dans l’alternative pratique – fidélité contre trahison.

Pour

La traduttrice e l’iceberg

Written in Italian by Silvia Pareschi | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Italian, English, Georgian

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Tradurre Hemingway significa, fra le tante altre cose, toccare con mano come funziona il famoso principio dell’iceberg, un caposaldo della sua scrittura che egli enunciò per la prima volta in Morte nel pomeriggio: “Se un prosatore sa bene di cosa sta scrivendo, può o

Las mil y una noches

Written in Spanish by Jorge Luis Borges | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Spanish, English

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Un acontecimiento capital de la historia de las naciones occidentales es el descubrimiento del Oriente. Sería más exacto hablar de una conciencia del Oriente, continua, comparable a la presencia de Persia en la historia griega. Además de esa conciencia del Ori

De vulgari eloquentia, Liber primus, VI-VII

Written in Latin by Dante Alighieri | A specimen of Babel: Stories on the loss of the earth’s one speech and the confusion of languages

Also in: Latin, English, French, Italian, Arabic

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VI

Quoniam permultis ac diversis ydiomatibus negotium exercitatur humanum, ita quod multi multis non aliter intelligantur verbis quam sine verbis, de ydiomate illo venari nos decet quo vir sine matre, vir sine lacte, qui nec pupillarem etatem nec vidit

From Der Zoo in Rom

Translated into German by Lydia Dimitrow

Written in French by Pascal Janovjak

Also in: French, English, Italian

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Mitte der 1920er Jahre durchschreitet der Besucher des Zoos ein wüstes Gelände, das rein gar nichts mehr mit der eingehegten Harmonie der ursprünglichen Vision zu tun hat. Wegen fehlender Mittel sind zahlreiche Wege gesperrt. Und so irrt er umher, hier und da

From L’Investigateur

Translated into French by Bernard Kreise

Written in Russian by Margarita Khemlin

Also in: Russian, English, Ukrainian

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C’est une noce qui m’a accueilli à Ostior. Un juif se mariait avec une juive. Les invités, disons- le franchement, étaient tous juifs. Non sans quelques camarades ukrainiens, d’accord, mais pas pour l’essentiel. On entendait des mots juifs venant de d

From Революция

Written in Russian by Viktor Martinovich

Also in: Russian, Belarusian, German

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Глава одиннадцатая, в которой я впервые отказываюсь выполнить просьбу

Однажды в мае, в час небывало жаркого заката, в Москве, на Патриарших прудах, появились два гражданина. Первый из них, одетый в летнюю серенькую пару, был маленького роста, упитан, лыс,

Language Poems

Written in Belarusian by Julia Cimafiejeva

Also in: Belarusian, English, Ukrainian

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Mother Tongue

У мяне мамін чырвоны язык.
Гутаперчавы хлопчык.
Ён
гнецца ва ўсе бакі.
Ён
скача праз кола зубоў.
Ён
узлятае
з мокрай арэны сківіцы
да паднябеннага купала.
(Зноў гэты цырк!..)

Sete poemas from Geografia

Written in Portuguese by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen

Also in: Portuguese, English, Italian

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Eu me perdi

Eu me perdi na sordidez de um mundo
Onde era preciso ser
Polícia, agiota, fariseu
Ou cocote
Eu me perdi na sordidez do mundo
Eu me salvei na limpidez da terra
Eu me busquei no vento e me encontrei no m

D20

Lvov Is Everywhere: Adam Zagajewski (1945-2021)

Edited by Specimen

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A Few Personal Memories

Written in English by Matteo Campagnoli

Also in: Italian

Spróbuj opiewać okaleczony świat

Written in Polish by Adam Zagajewski

Also in: English, Italian

Jechać do Lwowa

Written in Polish by Adam Zagajewski

Also in: English, Italian

Senza flash

Written in Polish by Adam Zagajewski

Also in: English, Italian

El hombre sirena

Written in Spanish by Samanta Schweblin

Also in: Spanish, French, Italian

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Estoy sentada en el bar del puerto, esperando a Daniel, cuando veo al hombre sirena mirarme desde el muelle. Está sobre la primera columna de hormigón, donde el agua todavía no llega a la playa, a unos cincuenta metros. Tardo en reconocerlo, en entender qué es e

A Thousand Words For Snow

Written in English by Xiaolu Guo

Also in: English, German, Polish

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A great iceberg is drifting on the water. If you were a bird or a fish, and if you followed this iceberg long enough, you would arrive somewhere in Greenland. There you might see a dead seagull frozen on the snow, or the skeleton of a large musk ox on a hillside.

Un pont, une lagune… from Camarade Papa

Written in French by Gauz

Also in: French, German, Italian

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Un pont, une lagune, quelques immeubles, forêt, forêt, forêt… Le grand défilé du paysage m’est aussi étranger que le repas du perfide. La route fait le serpent noir dans la forêt inexplicable. De loin, on croit que les arbres le coupent. De près, il laisse un

Coney Island

Written in German by Peter Stamm

Also in: German, English, Italian

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Das Pappstreichholz abreissen, das Briefchen umdrehen, ohne hinzuschauen. Der Daumen erinnert sich. Er hat den unteren Rand des Umschlags erkannt und sich dann auf den Kopf des Streichholzes gelegt und ihn auf die Reibfläche gepresst. Ein Reißen, und sofort sc

Nathalie Handal: Four Poems

Written in English by Nathalie Handal

Also in: English, Arabic, Italian

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The Mirror

When you want to find me
you go to the mirror—

you unbutton your shirt slowly
the way I used to

you unbuckle your belt, a slight pull
the way I used to

you unzip your jeans
the way I used to

you ta

Two Poems for Joseph Brodsky

Written in English by Derek Walcott

Also in: English, Italian

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Midsummer, II

Companion in Rome, whom Rome makes as old as Rome,
old as that peeling fresco whose flaking paint
is the clouds, you are crouched in some ancient pensione
where the only new thing is paper, like young St. Jerome

Brasília from Todos os contos

Written in Portuguese by Clarice Lispector

Also in: Portuguese, English, Italian

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Brasília é construída na linha do horizonte. Brasília é artificial. Tão artificial como devia ter sido o mundo quando foi criado. Quando o mundo foi criado, foi preciso criar um homem especialmente para aquele mundo. Nós somos todos deformados pela adaptação à liberda

D19

To Speak Europe in Different Languages

Edited by Specimen

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To Speak Europe in Different Languages: Winner and Shortlist

Hybrid and Collective Writing Competition

York to Teheran

Written in English by Desta Haile

Also in: Tigrinya, Italian

መጀመሪያ ቃል ነበረ…

Written in Amharic by Yohanes Molla

Also in: English, German

Prendre Langue

Written in French by Souhail Chichah

Also in: Amazigh, Arabic

Africa is the Land of Wide Empty Spaces

Written in English by Asmaa Jama

Also in: Somali, Swahili

Кога заминав од „Карл Либкнехт“

Written in Macedonian by Lidija Dimkovska

Also in: Croatian, Italian

Alfabeto from I mirtilli del Moléson

Written in Italian by Giovanni Orelli

Also in: Italian, French

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È Natale!

Mi correggo: domani è l’ultimo giorno di scuola prima delle vacanze di Natale, e sono contento di avere pronta la poesia per quelli di prima. Per le altre classi si trova tutto nei libri, è come il salato che comperi sotto vuoto. È in p

D18

Premio Babel-Laboratorio Formentini 2020

Edited by Babel Festival

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Motivazioni della giuria

Written by Franca Cavagnoli, Yasmina Mélaouah, Ilide Carmignani

Discorso di accettazione

Written in Italian by Silvia Manzio

Oreo’s tutors from Oreo

Written in English by Fran Ross

Also in: Italian

From طائر أزرق نادر يحلق معي

Written in Arabic by Youssef Fadel

Also in: Italian

From La parte inventada

Written in Spanish by Rodrigo Fresán

Also in: Italian

Three Animal Poems from Field Work (1979)

Written in English by Seamus Heaney

Also in: English, Italian

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The Badgers

When the badger glimmered away
into another garden
you stood, half-lit with whiskey,
sensing you had disturbed
some soft returning.

The murdered dead,
you thought.
But could it not have been

D17

Voices From a World on Pause

Edited by Eventi letterari Monte Verità

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Intro: Voci dal tempo sospeso

Written in Italian by Paolo Di Stefano

Also in: English

Il sonno del fuoco

Written in Italian by Emanuele Trevi

Also in: English, German

Requiem per casa di riposo lombarda

Written in Italian by Fabio Pusterla

Also in: English, German

Das Haus der vielen Länder

Written in German by Nino Haratischwili

Also in: Italian, Georgian, English

Compagnia delle poete translates Carlo Bordini

Written in Italian by Carlo Bordini

Also in: Italian, English, Portuguese, French, Catalan, Spanish, Romanian, Polish, Greek, German

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Colpo di sonno

La morte potrebbe arrivare
leggera, lieve, attutita,
come un colpo di sonno
per fare la pace con se stessi
ovunque
come una lumaca
la consistenza appiccicosa
o
un momento di panico
pentimento

D16

M’illumino d’immenso Poetry Translation Prize 2020

Spanish and Arabic Edition

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About the Prize

Written in English

Gli ireos gialli from Il male minore

Written in Italian by Luciano Erba

Also in: Spanish, Arabic

La carta delle arance from La carta delle arance

Written in Italian by Pietro De Marchi

Also in: Spanish, Arabic

From ქანაანის შვილები

Written in Georgian by Gabriel Tanye

Also in: Georgian, English, Russian

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ბარში ფანჯარასთან ყვითელთმიანი გოგონა პაპიროსს ეწევა და ქუჩაში კანტი- კუნტად მიმავალ გამვლელებს აკვირდება.

გოგონამ მისი მოსვლა ვერ გაიგო.

ფეხდაფეხ შემოყვა ბარის მეპატრონე, რომელმაც ცოტა ხნის წინ ხმაურით გააღვიძა.

თვითონ უხერხულად დარბაზი

D15

The Return of Imagination

Edited by Adania Shibli and Mika Buljevič

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The Return of Imagination

Written in English by Adania Shibli and Mika Buljevič

Ja, anarhista

Written in Bosnian by Damir Avdič

Also in: English, Italian

خرافات حقيقية

Written in Arabic by Haytham el-Wardany

Also in: English

As They Drew the Lines of Nation States

Written in English by Priya Basil and Sinan Antoon

Also in: Italian

في المنزل and الغابة التي حدثت في غيابك

Written in Arabic by Jalal al-Ahmadi

Also in: Croatian, English, French, Italian

From “Illegal” Traveller

Written in English by Shahram Khosravi

Also in: Finnish, Italian

Le Minotaure 504 from La Préface du Nègre

Written in French by Kamel Daoud

Also in: French, English, Italian

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À Alger, tout le monde vit avec mon argent, mon fric, les 1700 dinars qui m’ont été volés près de la gare des trains, il y a dix-sept ans.

Qu’est-ce que tu crois ? Qu’on arrive à Alger parce qu’on a pris le taxi et son cabas ? Tu m

Ink Dots

Translated into English by Alta L. Price

Written in Italian by Matteo Terzaghi

Also in: Italian, German, French

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When we write a diary page, a reflection or a story, we’re split into a me and a you: the former holds the pen, the latter evaluates what comes out. But in the concentration that writing requires, sometimes we’re cast into a more impersonal realm, above or b

L’uva agli uccelli from Liquida

Written in Italian by Anna Felder

Also in: Italian, French, German

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1.

−Metti il piede qui,− le dice Antonio con il proprio piede, e lei obbedisce.

Sono i passi a riconoscersi di casa; il resto, il paese, l’altopiano, il cammino sono nuovi.

Vanno su terra secca, mai vista

Sleep

Written in English by Brett Darling

Also in: English, Arabic

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There were other ways of looking at it. This nightmare of hers, which, being both her nurse and her son I couldn’t rightly repeat out loud. But they were spoken non-the-less, or should I say, drooled. They formed in tiny globules, unrecognizable to anyone bu

From Asymetria

Written in Polish by Adam Zagajewski

Also in: Polish, English, Italian

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O mojej matce

O mojej matce nie umiałbym nic opowiedzieć –
jak powtarzała, będziesz kiedyś żałował,
gdy mnie już nie będzie, i jak nie wierzyłem
ani w „już“, ani w „nie będzie“,
jak lubiłem patrzeć, kiedy czytała modną pow

W-I-R From Schildkrötensoldat

Written in German by Melinda Nadj Abonji

Also in: German, French, Italian

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In dieser Pfannkuchen-Nacht ist etwas passiert, im flackernden Küchenlicht, ich habe Kugeln geformt aus zweiundzwanzig Kilo Teig, Kugeln im Durchmesser von vier Zentimetern, ich weiß zwar nicht genau, was passiert ist, aber sie haben sich, oh ja, sie haben si

From شريط صامت

Written in Arabic by Abdul Zahra Zaki

Also in: Arabic, English, Malayalam

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أسرع من الصوت

قبل أن يجيب
ينخله الرصاص

يصعد القاتل
يهدر المحرك
وتدور العجلات

بينما تنطبق الشفتان
على جواب
يهم أن ينطلق

*

هدف

D14

It Is My Way of Going Around These Days

Edited by Specimen

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Preface

Written in English by Specimen

Also in: Italian

From Drinks With Dead Poets

Written in English by Glyn Maxwell

Sogno

Written in Italian by Vanni Bianconi

Also in: English, Arabic, Russian

Отец вошел в круглое здание цирка…

Written in Russian by Elena Botchorichvili

Also in: French, English, Czech, Georgian

ich bin zu gast bei einer frau…

Written in German by Michael Fehr

Dreams

Written in English by Stephanos Papadopoulos

Also in: Italian, Spanish

Dormo poco e male from Ora pro bonobis. Amen

Written in Italian by Luigi Serafini

Also in: Russian, Spanish

La notte si avvicina

Written in Italian by Matteo Campagnoli

Also in: Polish

Writers from the Old Days (Bolaño in Blanes 1996-1999)

Translated into English by J. S. Tennant

Written in Spanish by Enrique Vila-Matas

Also in: Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic

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What else is there / other than knowing how to get off the ropes
–Mario Santiago

Augusto Monterroso wrote that sooner or later the Latin American writer faces three possible fates: exile, imprisonment or burial.

I met Roberto Bolaño rig

D13

What Were You Doing in My Dream Last Night?

Edited by Specimen

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Preface

Written in English by Specimen

Also in: Italian

From Horae Canonicae: Prime

Written in English by W.H. Auden

Also in: Italian

A Dream

Written in English by Edward Thomas

Also in: Italian

Ein Traum

Written in German by Franz Kafka

Also in: English, Italian

The Season of Phantasmal Peace

Written in English by Derek Walcott

Also in: Italian

From Il deserto dei Tartari

Written in Italian by Dino Buzzati

Also in: English, French, Portuguese

Kubla Khan: Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment

Written in English by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Also in: Italian

El sueño de Coleridge

Written in Spanish by Jorge Luis Borges

Also in: English, Italian

Любовь

Written in Russian by Joseph Brodsky

Also in: English

Zu nahe

Written in German by Walter Benjamin

Also in: English

Had I Not Been Awake

Written in English by Seamus Heaney

Also in: Italian

From Nights with my Frog

Translated into English by Michael Hofmann

Written in German by Markus Werner

Also in: German, Italian

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1

He comes once a month, makes himself at home, stays for three days. In my throat, where else. Have you tried gargling, comes the well-meaning advice. Tried that, tried everything. Never less than three days.

Filthy

4 poemas

Written in Portuguese by Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Also in: Portuguese, English, Italian

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Resíduo

De tudo ficou um pouco.
Do meu medo. Do teu asco.
Dos gritos gagos. Da rosa
ficou um pouco.

Ficou um pouco de luz
captada no chapéu.
Nos olhos do rufião
de ternura fic

The Dragon Can’t Dance: Prologue

Written in English by Earl Lovelace

Also in: English, Italian

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THE HILL

This is the hill tall above the city where Taffy, a man who say he is Christ, put himself up on a cross one burning midday and say to his followers: “Crucify me! Let me die for my people. Stone me with stones as you stone Jesus, I will love yo

From Zabor ou Les psaumes

Written in French by Kamel Daoud

Also in: French

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Je l’ai maintes fois vérifié. C’est ma muette malédiction. La loi de ma vie que personne ne devine. Je le dis (écris) : Quand moi j’oublie, la mort se souvient. Confusément mais abruptement. Je ne pourrais pas expliquer cela, mais je me sens lié à la Faucheu

El traductor

Written in Spanish by Juan Villoro

Also in: Spanish, English, Arabic, German, Bulgarian, Italian

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a Susanne Lange

Conocer es, en buena medida, traducir. La condición siempre relativa de lo que sabemos obliga a entender poco a poco; las fases de la luna, la caída de una piedra y el vuelo de un halcón se ordenan en el archivo len

Viva la Calabria, viva Pinocchio il calabrese, il figlio del falegname from Il popolo di legno

Written in Italian by Emanuele Trevi

Also in: Italian, English, French

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Cari amici che mi ascoltate, figli e figlie del falegname, oggi desidero parlarvi di una musica: una musica di pifferi e colpi di grancassa, come sta scritto nel capitolo nove delle Avventure di Pinocchio, il Vangelo di noi calabresi, il popolo di

Żelane drzwi from Stambuł, Stambuł

Translated into Polish by Paulina Dominik

Written in Turkish by Burhan Sönmez

Also in: Turkish, English, Italian, German

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Dzień pierwszy – Opowiada Student Demirtay

– To długa historia, ale streszczę wam ją – powiedziałem. – Nikt nigdy wcześniej nie widział tyle śniegu w Stambule. Kiedy dwie zakonnice o północy były w drodze ze szpitala Świętego Grzegorza w Karaköy do kościoła

From МОНИТОР-1

Written in Russian by Shura Burtin

Also in: Russian, English

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60-летнего Оюба Титиева арестовали в январе 2018 года: в его машине якобы нашли наркотики. Правозащитники заявляют, что дело сфабриковано. Оюб Титиев, бывший учитель и тренер по боксу, возглавил чеченский «Мемориал» девять лет назад, после похищени

From Le noir est une couleur

Written in French by Grisélidis Réal

Also in: French, Italian, Spanish

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Nous prenons l’autobus jusqu’au terminus, aux confins de la ville, dans un quartier d’usines.

Après un pont, il faut encore marcher longtemps dans un étroit sentier de terre, au milieu des prés.

D’un no

D12

Babel 2019 | You Will Not Speak My Language

Edited by Babel Festival

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You Will Not Speak My Language

Compiled by Babel Festival in: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and invented languages

L’inizio della civiltà

Written in Italian by Luigi Serafini

The Gift

Written in English by Saleh Addonia

Also in: Italian

Traductores esclavos

Written in Spanish by Valeria Luiselli

Also in: Italian

La stanza infinita from La straniera

Written in Italian by Claudia Durastanti

Also in: English, Dutch, French

5 Poems from Morning, Paramin

Written in English by Derek Walcott

Also in: English, French, Italian

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Along the cemetery wall of Lapeyrouse
in Port of Spain, Trinidad, he saw this truth:
a fellow walking with a floral umbrella
that seems both parasol and parachute―
all our wishes are still rooted in ground,
but solid as a hydrant on

From Taş Bina ve Diğerleri

Written in Turkish by Asli Erdoǧan

Also in: Turkish, English, Italian

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Olgular açık, uyumsuz, kaba… Yüksek sesle konuşmaya hevesli. Dev taşlar gibi yıkılmış olguları, önemli şeylerle ilgilenenlere bırakıyorum. Beni çeken yalnızca aralarındaki mırıldanma. Belli belirsiz, saplantılı… Kayalar dolusu olguyu eşeleyerek eld

What Can Literature Still Do?

Written in English by Georgi Gospodinov

Also in: English, French, German, Italian

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The book, thanks to which I have the honor of speaking in front of you, is called The Physics of Sorrow. An editor gave me a friendly advice to change this title because nobody would want a novel with such a name. The sorrow doesn’t sell. Have you seen a melancholy Me

Zwei Gedichte

Written in German by Robert Walser

Also in: German, French, Italian

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Ein Landschäftchen

Dort steht ein Bäumlein im Wiesengrund
und noch viele artige Bäumlein dazu.
Ein Blättlein friert im frostigen Wind
und noch viele einzelne Blättlein dazu.
Ein Häuflein Schnee schimmert an Baches Rand
und

From მელია-ტულეფია: FOXTROT

Written in Georgian by Zurab Karumidze

Also in: Georgian, English, Russian

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ნუ მკითხავთ, როგორ აღმოვჩნდი სვანეთში, იმ ადრე-შუასაუკუნოვან წესჩვეულებათა მიმდევარი ხალხით დასახლებულ მაღალმთიან რეგიონში, მე _ ახალგაზრდა და ფრიად წარმატებული ბიზნესმენი ფილადელფიიდან, რუსეთში კონცესიების შესაძენად ჩასული. დამეთანხმებით, ფრიად შთამბეჭდავი “ვირაჟი” გამიკეთებია! ი

From This Little Art

Written in English by Kate Briggs

Also in: English, French, Italian

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When it comes to making a table, Robinson Crusoe is a novice, a beginner. He has never made a table before. But others have. He is fortunate in the sense that he has a model in mind: this, along with the many items he salvages from the ship (the tools,

5 Poems from 40 Sonnets

Written in English by Don Paterson

Also in: English, Greek, Italian

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For months I’d moved across the open water
like a wheel under its skin, a frictionless
and by then almost wholly abstract matter
with nothing in my head beyond the bliss
of my own breaking, how the long foreshore
would hear my fu

Otros retratos de soledad

Translated into Spanish by Clara Moreno Vivot

Written in English by Susana Moreira Marques

Also in: English, Italian, Portuguese

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Piensa en esto: llegas a una ciudad nueva, a otro país, a otra parte del mundo. Tratas de comprender todo en unos pocos días, escribir sobre ello, condensarlo. Quieres construir un puente y cruzarlo, aunque la cultura y la historia no te lo permitan. Quieres di

From Kraft

Written in German by Jonas Lüscher

Also in: German, Dutch, Russian

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Wir haben alle schon mit Liebe zu tun gehabt, von der wir dann einsehen mussten, dass wir sie uns nicht leisten können.
–Paul Ford

Das Rumsfeldporträt hängt direkt in Krafts Blickachse. Wenn er wieder nicht weiterweiß und sein Blick

Tre poesie from Da una crepa

Written in Italian by Elisa Biagini

Also in: Italian, English, Spanish

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La gita

devo rassegnarmi a non potere qui
raddrizzare nulla
–Nathan Zach

Un vento che m’impasta
col soffione, che mi
fonde le suole mentre
faccio la mia cern

Angst vor der Angst

Written in German by Erich Fried

Also in: German, Persian, Belarusian, Bengali, English, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Kurdish, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Spanish

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Angst was kommt
Denken vor Angst was kommt
Angst vor dem Denken was kommt
Angst vor dem Denken

Wenn es kommt
kommt es wegen der Angst
wegen der Angst vor dem Denken
die mir Angst macht

أقليات

Written in Arabic by Ra’ad Abdul Qadir

Also in: Arabic, English, French

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أقلية أولى

المترجم الكلداني ينظر إلى سائق الشاحنة
من المحتم أنها أقلية، لقد كان لها مجد غابر
السائق الصابئي يوقف الشاحنة قرب شجرة
ويقول لحامل الشعلة: احفر هنا
من المحتمل أن لا ينكشف الأ

5 Poems on Fear and Courage

Written in English by Charles Simic

Also in: Italian

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Much grief await us, friends.
From this day on
We’ll be testing our courage
Like those men who stretch a wire
Between two skyscrapers,
And set out to walk on it,
Bringing along an open umbrella
Which the wind may ta

From Nove Noites

Written in Portuguese by Bernardo Carvalho

Also in: Portuguese, Italian

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Isto é para quando você vier. É preciso estar preparado. Alguém terá que prevenilo. Vai entrar numa terra em que a verdade e a mentira não têm mais os sentidos que o trouxeram até aqui. Pergunte aos índios. Qualquer coisa. O que primeiro lhe passar pela cabe

The Second Time

Translated into English by Frederika Randall

Written in Italian by Maurizia Balmelli

Also in: Italian, French, Arabic

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March 1, 2018

Yesterday I had an appointment with Abdul. He’s 23, Egyptian, undocumented, and I’m his binôme, his ‘study buddy’ (according to my dictionary). We meet once a week to talk and, as he says, ‘do the verbs’. I left home a

Compagnia delle poete translates Antonella Anedda

Written in Italian by Antonella Anedda

Also in: Italian, Catalan, English, French, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish

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Povertà. Cronache, 2019

Non so quale nuovo rigore mi abbia portato a voi, case dal terreno nero
–Amelia Rosselli

Di nuovo voi case dal terreno nero. Voi muri neri eretti sui confini.
Zolle nere. Tende nere.

Povera è questa pove

Cinque poesie from The Occasional Demon

Written in Italian by Primo Levi

Also in: Italian, English

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Nel principio

Fratelli umani a cui è lungo un anno,
Un secolo un venerando traguardo,
Affaticati per il vostro pane,
Stanchi, iracondi, illusi, malati, persi;
Udite, e vi sia consolazione e scherno:
Venti miliardi d’anni pri

From Бегун и корабль (Шишкин о Владимире Шарове)

Written in Russian by Mikhail Shishkin

Also in: Russian, English, French

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Канон учит работать резцом, как Бунин, отсекая от увиденного все лишнее. Ты — ткач. Твоя проза обволакивает.

Тебе нужен разгон. Ты не можешь дать героям сразу их полный голос. Ты всегда начинаешь с чьего-то письма, дневника, воспом

D11

Oca Babel at Flip 2019

Curated by Babel Festival

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Table
of
Contents

5 poemas

Written in Portuguese by Ricardo Aleixo

Also in: German

5 poesie

Written in Italian by Vanni Bianconi

Also in: English, French, Portuguese, Polish, Spanish

Antes do céu cair

Written in Portuguese by Jaider Esbell

Also in: Macushi

3 Gedichte

Written in German by Michael Fehr

Also in: English, Portuguese

3 Poems

Written in English by Yumi Ito

Also in: Portuguese

Café

Written in Portuguese by Simone Spoladore

Also in: English

Sou Auritha cordelista

Written in Portuguese by Auritha Tabajara

Also in: English

خطبة “الهندي الأحمر” -ما قبل الأخيرة- أمام الرجل الأبيض

Written in Arabic by Mahmoud Darwish

Also in: Arabic, Spanish, Mazatec, Chinantec, Mixe, Zapotec, Yucatec, English

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…أَسْماؤُنا شَجَرٌ مِنْ كَلامِ الإِلهِ، وَ طَيْرٌ تُحَلِّقُ أُعَلْى
مِنْ الْبُنْدُقِيَّةِ. لا تَقْطَعوا شَجَرَ الاسْم يا أَيُّها الْقادمون
مْنَ الْبَحْرِ حَرْبَاً، وَلا تَنْفُثوا خَيْلَكُمْ لَهَباً في السُّهول
لَكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ

Os Involuntários da Pátria

Speech delivered in Portuguese by Eduardo Viveiros de Castro

Also in: Portuguese, English, Italian

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Desta terra, nesta terra, para esta terra. E já é tempo.
– Oswald de Andrade

Hoje os que se acham donos do Brasil — e que o são, em ultimíssima análise, porque os deixamos se acharem, e daí a o serem foi um pulo (uma carta régia, um tiro, um lib

3 Poems from Sk’eoj Jme’tik U/Cantos de Luna

Written in Tzotzil by Enriqueta Lunez

Also in: Tzotzil, Spanish, German

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Ta po’ko mochibal li jme’e tsmak sba,
li snopbenale bak’intik kochuk k’ok’ tax chuchbe sk’ak’al.
Li jme’e, stusbun jol, stitun xchi’uk ta xcha pech’anan li k’usi ta snop ta yut yo’nton:
li k’ambail mukul ta yolon tasiletik
ti oy ak’o mi yi’jil an

From Gehen, ging, gegangen

Written in German by Jenny Erpenbeck

Also in: German, English, Italian

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Eine Grenze, denkt Richard, kann also auch plötzlich sichtbar werden, kann plötzlich an einem Ort erscheinen, wo sonst nie eine war — was in den letzten Jahren an den Grenzen Libyens ausgefochten wurde oder an den Grenzen Marokkos oder Nigers, find

M’illumino d’immenso Poetry Translation Prize 2019

Written in Italian by Gianni D’Elia and Fabio Pusterla

Also in: Italian, Spanish

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Gianni D’Elia

LXI

Ma l’antinferno esiste; basta si spenga
la luce delle scale, mentre risali, senza
più sacchetti, la sera del rifiuto quotidiano;

d’improvviso, il buio più pesto e fitto
ti assale, e vai a memo

Den uppstoppade sjöelefanten i Bukarest

Written in Swedish by Fredrik Sjöberg

Also in: Swedish, English, German

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Under en av mina dagliga promenader till naturhistoriska museet i Bukarest, vars uppstoppade sjöelefant lockade till ständigt nya besök, slog det mig att rumänska elektrikerförbundets julfester måste vara något utöver det vanliga. Den utmattade glädjen;

From Z213: Exit

Translated into Spanish by Luis Miguel Isava

Written in Greek by Dimitris Lyacos

Also in: Greek, Dutch, English, Romanian, French, German

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[…]

Al comienzo no ves, sólo imaginas, luego crees que ves –despliegas en tu mente un espacio donde todavía nada es visible. Sólo espacio y niebla. Luego aíslas una parte de él e intentas discernir un paisaje en tu campo visual, al punto

Der Nachbar

Written in German by Gerhard Meister

Also in: German, English, Russian

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Nein, es wäre wirklich kein Problem gewesen, auf das Spiegelei zu verzichten. Ich hatte noch Brot und Konfitüre und auch Kaffee, und Kaffee ist am Morgen ja das wichtigste. Aber genausowenig ein Problem war es eben auch, bei meinem Nachbarn zu klingeln un

Seis poemas from O martelo

Written in Portuguese by Adelaide Ivànova

Also in: Portuguese, English, Italian

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o gato

a delegada não me levou a sério
em nada e perguntou escorregadia
se eu queria mesmo que se
instaurasse inquérito vestia um
conjuntinho maravilhoso e
horroroso calça e camisa
jeans com jeans
d

Introduzione: La scrittura resistente

Written in Italian by Laura Pugno

Also in: Italian, English, Spanish

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A vent’anni sono stata traduttrice. Vivevo già tra molte lingue, avevo appreso quel residuo che ciascuna lingua lascia, che non si scioglie nel bicchiere, che si deposita nel fondo come un sasso bianco, la materia porosa di cui parla Juan Villoro, la

5 Poems

Written in Urdu by Fahmida Riaz

Also in: Urdu, Spanish, Italian

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اقلیما

اقلیما
جو ہابیل کی قابیل کی ماں جائی ہے
ماں جائی
مگر مختلف
مختلف بیچ میں رانوں کے
اور پستانوں کے ابھاروں میں
اور اپنے پیٹ کے اندر
اپنی کوکھ میں
ان سب کی قسم

From El factor Borges

Written in Spanish by Alan Pauls

Also in: Spanish, English, French, Italian

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No todo el mundo ha leído a Borges. Todos, sin embargo, lo han oído. Todos saben cómo hablaba, todos sabrían reconocer su voz. A cierta altura de sus vidas, cuando los toca la fama, los escritores, por lo general ya algo cansados, tienden a relajarse y a

¿Lengua propia o apropiada?

Written in Spanish by Fernando Savater

Also in: Spanish, Italian

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¿Lengua propia o apropiada?

Hace varios lustros asistí en la Universidad de Minnesota a un congreso sobre las nacionalidades en la España actual (o sea, en la de entonces que es también la de ahora, agravada). Asistían representantes de ca

Il diario, Il racconto, Lo scambio from In altre parole

Written in Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri

Also in: Italian, English

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Il diario

Arrivo a Roma con la mia famiglia, qualche giorno prima di ferragosto. Non conosciamo questa abitudine di partire in massa. Nel momento in cui quasi tutti scappano via, in cui quasi tutta la città è ferma, proviamo a iniziare un nuovo capitolo de

Il meno pensato dei capolavori. 10 note su Pinocchio

Written in Italian by Marco Stracquadaini

Also in: Italian, English, Romanian

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1. Sventurato. Monello. Candido. Generoso. Coraggioso (vuol dare la vita per Arlecchino; piuttosto che cedere le monete che ha in bocca si lascia impiccare e spenzola vivo per tre ore, ma non apre la bocca). «Svelto e nervoso», come i piedi che gl

Yiorgos Chouliaras: Four Poems

Written in Greek by Yiorgos Chouliaras

Also in: Greek, English, French

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ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΕΣ

Από την άλλη πλευρά
της φωτογραφίας γράφω για να θυμάμαι
όχι το πού και πότε αλλά ποιος

Δεν είμαι εγώ στη φωτογραφία

Τίποτε δεν μας άφησαν
να πάρουμε μαζί μας
Μόνον αυτή τη φωτογραφία

Αν τη γυρίσετε από την άλλη θα

From La disdetta

Written in Italian by Anna Felder

Also in: Italian, French, German

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Le lezioni di canto cominciavano all’ora in cui i gatti si fanno inquieti e gli innamorati si sentono soli, all’ora in cui si aprono gli armadi di casa per cercarvi biscotti e vestiti.

Le signorine venivano a lezione in attesa di u