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Where to Find SFF Poetry in Translation


Anglophone readers are fairly spoiled for choice these days when it comes to speculative verse venues. Dozens of English-medium journals released monthly, quarterly, or biannually online and/or in print regularly provide line-ups of new science-fiction, fantasy, and horror poems for their readers to enjoy. At this point, trying to keep up with absolutely everything that's out there is more than likely to result in frustration and exhaustion; happy readers of contemporary SFF verse are, typically, selective, having found methods of cutting through the noise to home in on precisely what they most want amid a wealth of options.


When it comes to speculative poetry in translation to English, however, the situation is different. Anglophone readers who want to explore SFF verse originally written in languages they don't speak may come across the occasional speculative poem in translation in a non-SFF-focused venue or encounter the odd translated poem in a spec anthology here and there, but chances are they aren't feeling particularly inundated by publications to look to for their regular specpo-in-translation fix.


For English-speaking readers who want to deepen their engagement with speculative poetry in other languages, then, here are a few spec venues to check out that frequently include verse translations to English.



Since it first began publishing poetry in translation in 2016, the free-to-read online SFF magazine Samovar has regularly featured translations to English alongside the original texts of poems old and new first composed in Irish, Nepali, Japanese, Mandarin, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Tagalog, Spanish, French, Tamajaght, Arabic, and Polish. Some translations published in Samovar are the work of the poets who produced the original texts while others have been carried out by separate individuals. Interviews with translators of the poety found on the Samovar website can also be found scattered throughout the magazine's archives, worth a look from anyone interested in the craft of literary translation.



Each issue of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Asscociation (SFPA)'s quarterly print journal, Star*Line, primarily comprises poems originally written in English. However, the journal more often than not includes a "Xenopoetry" section, offering new translations to English of speculative poems first written in other languages. (Look for the "Xenopoetry" heading in the "Features" division of the ToC of issues of Star*Line listed on the SFPA website to find out if a particular issue includes verse translations or not.) In the past, Star*Line's readers have encountered translations to English of speculative poetry in Spanish, French, Japanese, Arabic, Cebuano, Mandarin, Polish, and other languages. The Xenopoetry feature seems to have become more of a regular element of the journal in recent years, so you can usually expect to find one or two poems in translation in each issue of Star*Line.



Each issue of the SFPA's free-to-read online quarterly journal Eye to the Telescope features poetry selected by a unique editor according to a unique theme. In 2013, author and translator Lawrence Schimel guest-edited a "Speculative Poetry in Translation" issue, featuring translations to English of poems originally written in Italian, Maltese, Spanish, Polish, and Russian, but this was not the only time translated works have made their way into the journal. Specpo in translation can also be found in the "Time" issue, the "Indigenous Futurisms" issue, and more recent installments as well.



The online SFF magazine Silver Blade has featured specpo in translation to English here and there over the years, including translations from Japanese, from French, from German, and from Spanish. Alongside pieces in translation, Silver Blade features Translator's Notes, which can be an interesting read for those who want to learn more about the different approaches that can be taken to translating speculative poetry. The magazine's guidelines for poetry state that the editors "always seek previously unpublished English translations of literary quality poems with speculative elements that have been previously published in any language except English," so while Silver Blade's current backlog of translated poetry is not immense, this seems like a promising venue for readers of specpo in translation to keep an eye on.


 

Addendum for translators:


Translators of speculative poetry--including those who haven't yet translated specpo but would like to give it a try--might find it useful to know that some English-medium SFF venues that aren't listed above are in fact open to submissions of genre verse in translation and do at least sporadically publish translations to English of specpo first written in other languages.


The frequently spec-leaning magazine of "creative writing on environmental justice" Reckoning, for instance, has previously featured at least one poem in translation, and the magazine's guidelines state that the editors would "love to publish more work in translation!"


Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine rarely publishes translations of poetry, but they are open to submissions of translated SFF verse and have accepted work of the type before.


Poems in translation are likewise a perishingly rare occurrence in the online spec mag Kaleidotrope, but the editor has stated that he is interested in translations of speculative poems "provided an English-language version has not appeared previously somewhere else." If you have a verse translation you think fits Kaleidotrope's overall aesthetic, it's at least worth a shot!


David C. Kopaska-Merkel, editor of the specpo-centric magazine Dreams & Nightmares, has also stated that he would "100%" accept sci-fi or fantasy poems in translation to English if he believed them suitable to the publication in tone and content.


 

Thanks for reading! If you're a specpo reader, I hope this post has put SFF verse in translation more prominently on your radar. And if you're a translator of speculative poetry, I hope it's encouraged you to put more of your work out there. It would be great to see connections grow stronger between English-language specpo communities and SFF poetry enthusiasts who speak and write in other languages!


If you happen to know of an English-medium SFF venue that I've left out that you think should be brought to the attention to those interested in specpo in translation, let me know! I'd love to see this list grow.

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