May there be no ideas but in things
but I filled the things with ideas –
now they are so taut
they turn to dust
if I lightly touch them with a finger.
Translation of the Route is the eleventh collection by the award-winning Argentine poet and translator Laura Wittner. In poems that are precise, frank and finely tuned, Wittner explores the specificities of parental and familial love, life after marriage, and the re-ignition of the self in middle age.
The ‘things’ of life – bus journeys, potted plants, thunder at night, coffee-stained books, fleeting conversations and the rest – are made full through Wittner’s ability to pinpoint in them the consequential, and even the metaphysical, manipulating language with a translator’s delicate skill. There are funny, moving pen-portraits of Wittner’s two children, suddenly grown, as well as bell-clear descriptions of the task of writing. For this is also a collection about language itself – as an interface, as a surface, and as vital communication.
The poems in this edition, Wittner’s first collection available in English translation, have been translated by the Mexican-Scottish bilingual poet and translator Juana Adcock, acclaimed author of Manca and Split.
Co-published with the Poetry Translation Centre
The Poetry Translation Centre translates, publishes and tours contemporary poets from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Through innovative collaborations between international poets and English-language poets, the PTC aims to introduce new audiences to poetry from around the world and celebrate the diverse communities who live in the UK.
Dual language Spanish–English edition
Ireland & EU: Click here to order from Books Upstairs in Dublin
USA: Click here to order from Indiebound or Bookshop.org
