Modern Poetry in Translation

Readings by Adam Piette and Ágnes Lehóczky. Read the translations of these poems on the Modern Poetry in Translation website: https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/two-poems-12/ Translators Adam Piette and Ágnes Lehóczky write in the introduction: These poems are excerpts from The University Island (forthcoming from And Other Stories), a major work in progress by Hungarian poet István Vörös. The text functions less as a memoir than an anti-memoir—a powerful satire in free verse that chronicles three decades in the trenches of academia. The protagonist, a failed academic and poet, is a tragicomic figure in constant dialogue with his phantom companion, Hermes, the decipherer of the shapeshifting incomprehensible. This inner journey through the history of philosophical hermeneutics echoes the non-conformist souls of twentieth-century literature, reminiscent of Georg Büchner’s Lenz, Paul Celan’s posthumous phantoms, and the morose narrators of Thomas Bernhard. Vörös depicts the slow physical and psychological collapse of a ‘failed lecturer’ challenging a politicised, devalued system. It is a sobering critique of an institutional ‘madhouse’ where the academic becomes the very agent of academia’s demise. The work is a fiercely nihilistic exploration of annihilation, documenting the destruction of the cultural agora and the natural world alike. Yet, Vörös’s genius lies in his ability to present a hyper-real comic world with a humour that is both grotesque and hyperbolic. The narrative occupies a thin line between fact and caricature, where surreal decapitations are viscerally, comically real. Translating this work was a collaborative effort born of shared experience in the British and Hungarian academic systems. We were compelled by its moral weight and its interrogation of the contemporary poem’s raison d’être. Ultimately, the book asks a vital question: do we surrender to a system that reduces us to puppets, or do we believe that literature remains powerful enough to push back against institutional hypocrisy?

Read these poems on the Modern Poetry in Translation website: https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/three-poems-4/ Ági Bori writes in the translator's note: The poems presented here are a powerful sample of Anna T. Szabó’s oeuvre. Translating her chiselled and daunting poetic voice has been a profoundly moving and humbling experience. Due to the increasingly strict dictatorship in Romania in the eighties, where Anna was part of the oppressed Hungarian minority, she moved to Hungary with her family at the age of fifteen. She started as one of the late intellectual successors of the legendary short-lived literary magazine, New Moon (1946–1948), and seems to agree with one of the authors in its circle, Géza Ottlik, who said: ‘Existence is my profession.’ Anna presents experiences as if they are empirical observations. Her poems are often anchored in pain and suffering, both physical and emotional, revealing her awareness and responsiveness to the emotions of others. Her writings seem to encompass extreme psychic states. ‘Disgust’ is a case study in what I will call ‘empirical observation of everyday horrors’. It charts the mental state of being lost in the world, hitting against the edges of existence. Disgust is distrust: it is losing the essential sense of security. ‘The Lake’ echoes a feeling that was named in the short story, ‘The Imp of the Perverse’, by Edgar Allan Poe: a compulsion to commit an act against one’s own interests. In ‘Crossing, out’ Anna tries to describe death. She was asked to write an elegy for someone she hadn’t seen in over thirty years. The poem deals with the feeling of worldly alienation in which someone is thrown into an abyss: a place without language or direction, where everything earthly is negated, including logic and duality.

'Minora Poetica X' by Dimitra Kotoula, tr. Dimitra Kotoula by Modern Poetry in Translation Magazine

'Names' by George Le Nonce, tr. Kostya Tsolakis by Modern Poetry in Translation Magazine

In this special edition, celebrating the magazine's 60th anniversary, we returned to its earliest days with one of the founding members, the graphic designer of Richard Hollis. Richard Hollis designed the very first issue of MPT, working closely with editors Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort, and he remained with the magazine as design of a four decades from the broad sheet format, the first issue through to the paperback designs of the 1990s and early two thousands. Joining Richard in conversation about the magazine's history is writer, translator and MPT trustee JS Tennant co-author with Hollis of Cuba, 62.

Kafi: Sanwal Gurmani, translated from Saraiki by Mediah Ahmed, introduced and read by Mediah Ahmed, and the original poet Sanwal Gurmani Published in MPT Rhythms of the Land: Focus on the Poetry of Nature This Kafi by Sanwal Gurmani pulses with the rhythms of love, land, and longing. Set against the backdrop of nature—the forest, the deer, the red earth—it weaves the emotional terrain of human connection into the physical landscape. The forest’s anxiety for its fawn mirrors our own vulnerabilities, while the path of love becomes a metaphorical journey across the land. The naghaaraa of love, traditionally used in communal celebrations and declarations, is reimagined here as an instrument of peace—resolving wars through rhythm and resonance. In a world increasingly marked by conflict, this poem calls us back to tenderness, rootedness, and reconciliation—the true rhythms of the land and heart alike.

Published in MPT Rhythms of the Land: Focus on the Poetry of Nature My heart is an active volcano by Begoña Ugalde, translated from Spanish (Chile) by Drago Yurac Read this poem online: https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/my-heart-is-an-active-volcano/

Listen to two poems in English and Korean, written by Moon Bo Young and translated from Korean by Dabin Jeong. This recording features an introduction by the translator Dabin Jeong, followed by alternating English translations and the Korean original poems read by Moon Bo Young and Dabin Jeong. This poem is published in MPT Presently Proximal Person: Focus on Experimental Translations, No.2 2025. You can find the full text of this poem and the introduction on the MPT website: https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/two-poems-from-battleground/

Listen to 'Clarice 6-4-68' by Ana Cristina Cesar, translated from Portuguese by Mónica De La Torre. Including the translation by Mónica De La Torre , the original poem read in Portuguese by Andrea Lerner, and the introduction in the form of a letter by Mónica De La Torre. This poem is published in MPT Presently Proximal Person: Focus on Experimental Translations, No.2 2025. You can find the full text of this poem and the introduction on the MPT website https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/clarice-6-4-68/

From 'Sea Shells: Emerging Poets from Gaza' selected and translated by Batool Abu Akleen: https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/sea-shells-an-anthology-of-emerging-poets-from-gaza/

From 'Sea Shells: Emerging Poets from Gaza' selected and translated by Batool Abu Akleen: https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/sea-shells-an-anthology-of-emerging-poets-from-gaza/

From 'Sea Shells: Emerging Poets from Gaza' selected and translated by Batool Abu Akleen: https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/sea-shells-an-anthology-of-emerging-poets-from-gaza/