“The encounters with fellow translators was refreshing, their views on translating poetry as well as their open approach and enthusiasm provided me with new energy to continue.“

Katelijne de Vuyst joined translators from Belgium, the Czech Republic, China and France in January 2015 for a Schwob residency organised by Wales Literature Exchange focused on translating modern literary classics.

As an editor of the Flemish Poëziekrant and one of those responsible for translating poetry, I’m always looking to discover new poets with an interesting voice.

As the Schwob residency at Tŷ Newydd programmed visits and lectures of so many contemporary Welsh writers and poets, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to participate in January. The encounters with editors, writers and poets such as Nia Davies, Zoe Skoulding, Llŷr Gwyn Lewis and Patrick McGuinness who read from their recent work were very stimulating. The lecture and insights of the latter about poetry translation were particularly interesting, as were the views of Tony Brown on both R.S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas.

The encounters with fellow translators was also refreshing, their views on translating poetry as well as their open approach and enthusiasm provided me with new energy to continue.

As a direct result of my stay in Wales, I will be publishing an article about Dannie Abse, with translations of 5-7 of his poems, and a large anthology of the poetry of Dylan Thomas. Moreover, I would like to translate a number of McGuinness’s poems from Jilted City, and if possible, some texts from Other People’s Countries that, from the point of view of language and tone, I consider to be prose poems.