Words are only music in a language you don’t understand. Meaning changes when you don’t know the culture from which a poem comes from. We often hear the phrase “Lost in Translation” because it is easy to fail a poem, its music and meaning in the act of moving it from one language and culture to another. Hence, a good translation is often a re-creation. But what if we took a poem in its original form and let it inspire us? Take us to a place we might otherwise never go?
In this workshop we will examine “Windup Doll,” a beautiful poem by the iconic 20th Century Iranian poet, Forugh Farrokhzad. You will listen to a recording of her reading (in Persian) and follow the poem in transliteration along with its word-by-word translation. You will then be guided to write a creative translation of the poem, letting it slowly carry you into your own subconscious, until the poem becomes yours.
Poems generated in this workshop will be considered for an anthology of poems based on Farrokhzad’s Windup Doll.
Masterclass participants are invited to join us for light refreshments after the workshop.
Sholeh Wolpé is an Iranian-born poet and writer. A recipient of the 2014 PEN Heim 2013 Midwest Book Award and 2010 Lois Roth Persian Translation prize, Wolpé ’s literary work includes four collections of poetry, two plays, three books of translations, and three anthologies. Her most recent publications include The Conference of the Birds (W.W. Norton & Co), Cómo escribir una canción de amor (Olifante Ediciones de Poesia, Spain), and Keeping Time With Blue Hyacinths (University of Arkansas Press.) Wolpé ’s writings have been translated into eleven languages and included in numerous American and international anthologies and journals of poetry and fiction, and featured on programs such as Selected Shorts and Public Radio International.
Wolpé has performed her poems and translations with world-renowned musicians at Quincy Jones Presents series on Broad Stage, Skirball Cultural Center Series, Los Angeles Aloud, and LACMA stage, among others. She travels internationally as a poet and public speaker, and has taught poetry and literary translation at UCLA and University of Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program. Wolpé is the 2018 inaugural Author in Residence at the University of California, Los Angeles where she also teaches as Visiting Associate Professor.
