Spanish-American poetry translation competition in Romanian continues the initiative initiated by the Viarumania Cultura Association in 2011 and resumed in 2021 in collaboration with the honorary consulates of Spain, Mexico and the Republic of Peru in Timisoara and the Western University of Timisoara. From the very beginning, this competition offered culture lovers an attempt to put their knowledge of the Spanish language and their love for poetry to the service of translating some poems written in the language of Cervantes into Romanian.
This year, the participants in the contest are invited to translate into Romanian three poems written by poets from Spain, Mexico and Peru, to which is added one chosen by each of the participants. They must send the three poems translated into Romanian, together with the freely chosen poem (in the original version and the Romanian translation) to the email address poesia@viarumania.com with the subject "Participation in the Spanish-American poetry translation competition 2022".
In order to ensure the objectivity of the judging, the participants will choose a pseudonym: the members of the jury will not know the real name of the poetry translator, it being possible to find out only when the winners will be announced. There are no age or geographical origin limitations (Romanian speakers from any country can participate).
The body of the sent message must contain:
Name and surname
Age
Full address (domicile)
Phone
The chosen pseudonym
The three poems proposed by the organizers, translated into Romanian, and the fourth poem in Spanish and Romanian must be sent in the attachment. Times New Roman, font 12, single space. .The document must be sent in pdf format, with the title XX (Pseudonym chosen). In the attached document, the chosen pseudonym must also appear at the beginning.
Deadline for sending texts: April 30, 2022.
The awarding ceremony will take place on May 13, at a time and in a space that will be announced later.
The jury will only receive the attached document, signed with a pseudonym, so that the anonymous nature of the translations is ensured. The members of the jury are members of the Romanian Writers' Union: the poet Adrian Bodnaru, the prose writer Viorel Marineasa and the Hispanic scholar Ilinca Ilian (university lecturer at the University of the West).
The poems proposed for the 2022 edition are the following:
Gloria Fuertes (Spania)
When they name you
When they name you,
they steal a little bit of your name from me;
it seems like a lie,
that half a dozen letters say so much.
Mi locura séria deshacer las murallas con tu nombre,
I would go painting all the walls,
there would not be a well
without me showing
to say your name,
nor stone mountain
where I won't scream
teaching the echo
your six different letters.
My madness would be,
teach the birds to sing it,
teach the fish to drink it,
teach men that there is nothing,
like going crazy and repeating your name.
My madness would be to forget everything,
of the remaining 22 letters, of the numbers,
from the books read, from the verses created.
Greet with your name.
Ask for bread with your name on it.
—siempre dice lo mismo— dirían a mi paso, y yo, tan orgulosa, tan feliz, tan campante.
And I will go to the other world with your name on my mouth,
to all questions I will answer your name
—los jueces y los santos no van a entender nada—
God would condemn me to say it nonstop forever.
White Varela (Peru)
Destiempo (II)
El rayo ha perfumado
ferozmente nuestra casa.
Tenemos sed, tenemos prisa
por golpear con el hueso
de una flor en la tiniebla.
There is a felled tree in this story.
Contemplamos el cielo.
No signs.
It's today
It's night
He died at the spider that mediates time,
There is only one old wall
and a new family
Of sombras.
Toda to inexplicable pallor
es el recuerdo
Travesía from wall to wall,
El abismo es el párpado,
Allí naufraga el mundo
Arrasado por una lagrima.
Despierto.
Primera isla de la conscience:
a tree.
El temor inventa el vuelo.
The familiar desert welcomes me.
Rosario Castellanos (Mexico)
Destination
Matamos lo que amamos. Lo demás
no ha estado vivo nunca.
Nobody is looking. A ningún otro hiere
an olvido, an absence, a veces menos.
Matamos lo que amamos. ¡Que cese esta asphyxia
to breathe with a foreign lung!
El aire no es bastante
para los dos. Y no basta la tierra
para los cuerpos juntos
y la ración de la esperanza es poca
y el dolor no se puede compartir.
El hombre es ánima de soledades,
deer con una flecha en el ijar
que huye y se desangra.
Ah, but he hates it, he stared sleeplessly
of glass pupils; his attitude
que es a la vez reposo y amenaza.
El deer va a beber y en el agua aparece
el reflejo del tigre.
El cervo bebe el agua y la imagen. It comes back
-antes que lo devoren- (complicit, fascinated)
Igual a su enemigo.
Damos la vida solo a lo que odiamos.
The fourth poem (which must be sent in the original version and in Romanian translation) remains at the choice of the participants.
The prizes offered are the following: First prize – 300 euros; Second prize – 200 euros; Third prize – 100 euros; Mention (if applicable): 50 euros. The poems will be published on the web page of the Spanish-American poetry translation contest in Romanian (currently in progress) and promoted in cultural circles.
