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‘Nothing changes, it only looks that way’ Interview with Latvian poet Madara Gruntmane and translator Richard O’Brien
The Parthian Baltic series introduces contemporary Baltic writing to an English-speaking audience. Many of these writers have been translated into English for the first time. The process of translating writing from one language into another involves more than a simple translation of words – it is a translating of cultures, values and meaning. Parthian asked one of the Parthian Baltic authors, Latvian poet Madara Gruntmane, and translator, Richard O’Brien, for their insight into the process.
Books matter in the Baltic
The three Baltic states will be the market focus for the 2018 London Book Fair, just one part of a year-long programme to commemorate a century of independence for each country. This focus brings an opportunity to delve into the tangles of literary history, and to appreciate the contemporary cultural landscapes of these lesser-known countries.
Susie Wild at Satellite of Love / NWR Review
New Welsh Review Reviewed Better Houses: Wild clearly has a sense of fun. Her poem, ‘Pub Crawl Date’ – cataloguing a nine-pint epic evening out – had me chuckling out loud. So too, ‘The Bed Testers’. But, in my view, Wild is at her best when she is more serious and, to this end, there were several stand-out poems. [...] Similarly, there is a Plath-like forensic quality to ‘The Lash Museum’ which I also really enjoyed. It opens with ‘A gutsy Cornish wind / slammed the caravan door shut, / skinning a birthmark, / my head / a blood fountain.’...
Author of the Month: Glen James Brown (March 2018)
Early in the writing of Ironopolis, I scribbled a line in one of my notebooks. I don’t know if it’s a quote or if I made it up: people arranged into fixed social settings by unseen forces. All this stuff was swirling about in my head when I started the book. What I learned lit a fire of rage in me that propelled the narratives I was piecing together.
Author of the Month: Rhys Davies (February 2018)
With Selected Stories, Rhys Davies further proves his indelible impact on Welsh literature, writing working class fiction about the Rhondda Valley, his home, seldom deemed worthy of literary attention before he came along.
