Black Poetics with Dr. Taylor Byas
"We thought about our own educational experiences, how we learned about the mythologies and folklore of other people in the school systems but never our own. I remember very clearly having entire units dedicated to Greek mythology, but Black folklore wasn’t built into the curriculum in the same way. We feel that the traditions, customs, and stories of Black people are necessary to study, and [we] wanted to create something that would hopefully help educators make that space in their classrooms."
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What Sparks Poetry:
Shook on Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi's "Asylum Papers"
"Working closely with Saddiq, we developed an intimate process of co-translation across continents. Starting with Bryar’s initial cribs, we returned to the Arabic together, experimenting and reworking the transfer of some poems’ complicated syntax into English and unpacking the poems’ many allusions. Because of our close relationship with Saddiq, we were able both to clarify imagery specific to the Sudanese context and to seek his approval for some of the bolder leaps we hoped would make his poetry sing in English as it does in Arabic." |
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