SWISS POETRY: POETHREESOME
Sparks Leaping over the Röstigraben and into Ticino


Initiated by the Babel Festival, «Poethreesome» is a joint initiative of the Babel Festival und the Leukerbad International Literary Festival.
Around the world, poets translate the works of other poets, sometimes without knowing the other language. This form of poetic translation is the starting point of the «Poethreesome» project. This initiative combines word for word translation and a rigorous discussion of form, style, allusions, etc. When necessary, a common third language is used for assistance.
In Switzerland, poetry from one linguistic region is rarely known to readers in the other linguistic regions. Therefore, the idea behind «Poethreesome» is that three Swiss poets—a German speaker, a French speaker and an Italian speaker—will translate each other’s poems into their respective national languages. This will send sparks leaping—from Lake Constance to Lake Geneva and to Lake Maggiore.
The results will be presented at the Babel Festival in September and then published.
The poets chosen for the 2017 edition of Poethreesome bring different styles and backgrounds to the process of translation. They offer surprising and unexpected versions of the translated works. In Leukerbad, the three writers will provide insight into their methods, their decisions, and the difficulties that such a translation project presents.

Italian-speaking Switzerland
ANDREA BIANCHETTI (1984), a poet and critic who is active in the world of theater, he has published several books. He undertook a reading tour in India with the support of Pro Helvetia.

French-speaking Switzerland
GAIA GRANDIN (1984), a poet and translator, winner of the Prix de la Vocation in 2013 for her book FAOUG. She lives in Biel.

German-speaking Switzerland
MICHAEL FEHR


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LITERARY WALK
23rd Leukerbad International Literary Festival
29 June to 1 July 2018