Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, Y Babell Lên
It was a good experience not only to translate from English to Welsh for the first time, but to do so with the work of Meltem Arikan. I felt an affiliation with her cross generational stories anchored in a fairy story. Her beautiful rhythmical work made it an enjoyable task to represent that in Welsh
The event was a gift, and begun with Eric Ngalle Charles and Idrissa Camra on traditional Cameroonian instruments, with Ifor ap Glyn performing, like a shapeshifter, his translation of Eric’s poems. It was hypnotic.
Tonight, we launch Eric’s anthology Hiraeth Erzolirzoli which includes 36 writers from Wales and Cameroon. I’m pleased to have some poems there and amazed at the synchronicity, given that my MA supervisor at the University of Southern Mississippi, some 20 years ago was from Cameroon. The world’s a handkerchief, they say.
clare e potter 