Kate Armstrong: Scottish Poetry

Choosing one poem among some two hundred you have translated was a daunting task. The only way I could go about it was not to think for too long, and pick one of the poems I liked best among those I had translated recently (the project goes back to 1998). The anthology in which the translation was published (see'Context of Publication') had just come out, and while working on translations I had been delighted by the unassuming but high-spirited and vivacious tone of the more 'Scots-oriented' poems (by Herbert, Meade, Holton, Vettesse, Blake, Armstrong). The title poem, Halcyon's Comet, by W.N. Herbert would have been another possible choice. Easy communication with Kate Armstrong led to the choice of For a New Museum. Other, perhaps more compelling reasons for selecting it are clear I hope in other comments (sense of fun, accessibility, combination of Scots and English).

Read more ... Context of Publication

Picture:© Dr D.M Cockburn

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