São Paulo – Poems by Pablo Neruda, Federico García Lorca, Jorge Luis Borges and other Spanish language poets are being presented to Egyptian audiences at recitals this Tuesday (9th) and Wednesday (10th) in Cairo. The verses have been translated directly from Spanish into Arabic by students from five Egyptian universities.
The Poesía en español y árabe (Poetry in Spanish & Arabic) project involved roughly 100 advanced students at the Spanish language departments of the Cairo, Ain Shams, Al Minia, Helwan, and Aswan universities. It is an initiative of the Cervantes Institute’s director in Cairo, Eduardo Calvo, who had already carried out a similar project as the institute’s director in Algeria. The institute is a centre for studies connected to the government of Spain, with schools in different parts of the world to spread the Spanish language and culture.
“I made a selection [of poems] that would cover the Latin American countries and Spain too, one that would include those who were known in Egypt. I also took suggestions from the universities, and selected the ones that weren’t too difficult to translate,” Calvo said regarding the works selected.
According to the Cervantes director, more than fifty poems were selected, including works by five Nobel Prize winners and eight winners of the Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the leading Spanish literature award. “They are all 20th century poets. Some have been translated [into Arabic] for the first time ever,” he says.
“The best-known ones in Egypt are Pablo Neruda (Chile) and Federico García Lorca (Spain). The others are known only in Spanish language circles,” says Calvo about the poets’ fame in Egypt. The students took approximately one month to complete the translations.
According to Calvo, the project may have new editions, depending on how well this first edition is accepted. The translated poems should be published online. The poetry recitals will take place at the Cervantes Institute in Cairo and the universities of Cairo and Ain Shams, at 12:00 pm.
The project was carried out in partnership with the Association of Hispanists of Egypt with backing from the embassies of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela in Egypt.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
