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հԲٴǰJohn Minahaneis another TROJICA AIRresidentinBanskáŠtiavnica. He is translatingŠٰ첹's poetry collection Fragment (rytierskeho) lesa /Fragment of a (Knight’s) Forest.
John Minahane was born in Ireland in 1950. He has been living and working in ia since1996 and since about 2004 he has been translating literatureto English. He translated the works of many poets and fiction writers, e.g.Margita Figuli (Tri gaštanové kone), Ladislav Novomeský, Milan Rúfus, Ján Buzássy, Mila Haugová, Ivan Štrpka.The Bloody Sonnets, his translationof P.O.Hviezdoslav'sKrvavésonetywas publishedinLIC in 2018.
Every residency is accompanied by an event where the translator and the author of the translated bookare introduced together in Banská Štiavnica.On July 10th,John Minahane andIvanŠtrkpamet inEleuzína(Horná ružová street 1, Banská Štiavnica). Here is the event on.
Here is a brief interview withJohn Minahane about his work and the residency.
Why did you pickIvan Štrpka's book? How can it attract English speaking readers?
How? Perhaps we could say withwonder. Wonder is everywhere in Ivan Štrpka's verses. In his texts, ordinary things cannot just be ordinary. They appear in different perspectives in whichthey are strange:
The wind is almost visible.
Trees are blurred as the future.
‒ anyone can feel it in the moment, but for Štrpka the feeling is not momentary. On the contrary, this is his attitude, always. What he wants to express goes beyond conventional ways of thinking.
Meister Eckhart had once excelled in such poetry writing.Štrpka quotes his beautiful verse
Genk ane wek
„go without a road“ ‒ meaning: go where there's no maptherefore your direction cannot be known beforehand.
It's a difficult thing to do! The contemporary poet admits it:
Outside? Or in? Am I awake? Or do I sleep?
Write to me, wind. In what footprint
am I now stuck fast?
However,the wind and the walking end upcreatinga sort ofnarrow road. A fragile orientation is gained by both the poet and the reader. I find this interesting, albeit challenging.I would like to present his poetry to those who are open to receive it. I have no doubts there are such English-speaking readers.
What is the biggest challenge in translating this particular book?
Challenges are everywhere. Let's look at the first sentence from the first poem of the collection:
Zadržaný dych sa vytrvalo plazí celé roky. (The held breath persistently crawls entire years.)
Vytrvalo? A good -English dictionary offers up to 15 possible equivalents for the wordٰý. Which one is the best? I have chosenpersistently... There are many similar, unavoidablechoices, among themreccuring words that appear regularly and that function as pointers in Štrpka's poetry.
The biggest challenge for me, however, is the poetictone. It has to be authentic and also convincing in the translated text.
Does the residency suit your work? Are you able to better concentrate on the translation?
Absolutely! My study is quiet and spacious, it has massive walls and a gently arched ceiling with a simple, quite tasteful relief.When I look out of the window,I can see the tower of the Old Castle right above me. Aside from that,Banská Štiavnica is a great town where everyone looks good. Nobody needs afitness center,walking up and down themain street is enough. And there are mountains around. I will try an alternative setting and see whether I wouldbe able to work on Glanzenberg as well.
What else are you working on these days? Any other translations,your own texts,...?
I have some shorter fictional pieces to translate and I'm working on my own writing. I also read. The antiquarian bookstore onNámestieSvätej Trojice has a decent selection of Roman classics in translation.I have foundSallustius whom I'dread in Ireland forty years ago.„The path returns to itself,"as Štrpka writes. I have finishedCatalin's Conspiracyand nowThe War with Jughurtaawaits.
