The Poem as an Instrument: Poetry Translation with Christina Ng
Learn how to tune your ears and navigate the translation process by thinking of the poem in musical notes with Christina Ng.
How do you select the words in a translation? Does the musicality of a word, a line, or a stanza influence your decisions?
Rather than thinking of the poem in units of words to translate between languages, this workshop encourages participants to navigate the translation process similarly to playing a musical instrument. While the instrument remains the same as the poet’s, the sounds produced will differ.
In Eliot Weinberger’s Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei, he breaks down the translation process by examining 19 different English translations of a single, 20-character four-line poem.
Together, we will experiment with the many ways of hearing a poem, developing our own approaches to tune our ears to the emotional effects we want to produce, much as we would while playing and shaping a song on a musical instrument.
Christina will also be sharing readings from her latest translated collection, The Years In My Hair: Selected Poems by Dan Ying, during her visit to Norwich City of Literature. Find out more here.
In partnership with the Poetry Translation Centre and BCLT. Supported by the National Arts Council Singapore.
Christina Ng
Christina Ng is a Singaporean writer and translator based in Berlin. Her Chinese-to-English literary translations include Liang Wern Fook’s short story collection The Joy of a Left Hand, shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize 2024 Translation Category. Her own writing explores identity, cultural and generational traumas. She leads literary translation and creative writing workshops and teaches literary translation at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
NCW Academy Bursary Programme
There are two bursary spaces available for this workshop.
You are eligible to apply for an NCW bursary if:
- You are a full-time student or pensioner
- You are in receipt of Jobseekers’ Allowance, Disability Benefits, Income Support, Universal Credit or Working Tax Credits
- You have an income of less than £18,000 per year
- If none of these apply but you feel you are still eligible, you may be asked to submit a signed declaration outlining your circumstances.
To apply for the bursary placement, email academy@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk with the name of the course/workshop you would like to attend. Please also attach one of the following proofs of low income listed here.
Plan your visit
National Centre for Writing is located in the heart of Norwich city centre by the river, and is easily accessible by foot and by public transport. Plan your visit with our guide to the local area, including transport and nearby attractions, as well as full details on accessibility on site.
Accessibility
We want to ensure that Dragon Hall is open and accessible for all. It is largely wheelchair accessible and is equipped with two raising platform lifts, disabled access toilets, hearing loop facilities and some dimmable lighting. Click below for details on parking, access into the building, a breakdown of terrain, facilities, and more.
Box office & shop
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