Calque, 2007–2009 (ed. Brandon Holmquest and Steve Dolph)
Over the course of five voluminous issues, Calque published a tremendous set of translations of new and archival works with an emphasis on the transformative poetics of translation as a creative act. In an editorial introduction to the first issue, coeditor Brandon Holmquest notes: “We queried a prominent academic in the field [of translation] who, in response, assured us that the kind of journal we were planning ‘doesn't, and can’t, exist in English.’ This was precisely the motivation we required.” During its blazing two-year run, Calque shot like a star through the dark sky of literary translation in the United States. Drawing from a global range of experimental poetry, Calque distinctively includes extensive translators’ notes preceding translations published en face with the original texts. The complete run features over fifty translations from dozens of languages — many of which appear in English for the first time — as well as a rich series of essays, reviews, and interviews on translation.
The contributors are too numerous to list (see contents below), including contemporary poet-translators like Sawako Nakayasu, Eugene Ostashevsky, and Linh Dinh translating everything from Dante Alighieri to Severo Sarduy. Interviews reveal that these are translators for whom the concept of fidelity included the sound, feel, and cultural politics operating between texts, and who freely admit the impossibility of literal equivalence. Calque figures translation not so much a trade as a craft that includes its own kind of exacting and rigorous but also creative process. Working with independent, visionary presses like New Directions, Archipelago, and Green Integer, and distributed by hand and by mail to bookstores and mailing lists, Calque presents a dense network of translation where readers might encounter original translations and historical texts alongside the inner workings of translation as a process.
Full volumes are available for download or browsing below. The index to each issue attempts to retain the formatting of the contents as printed in the magazine, including original pagination. Each PDF is fully searchable and bookmarked for easy navigation to individual pieces within the magazine. This reissue is scanned and edited by Mel Bentley with technical assistance from Danny Snelson and support from the Kelly Writers House.
The complete set of five issues is available for download here: [ZIP, 302 MB].
Calque, No. 1, January 2007 [PDF, 18 MB]
Contents
| Introduction by Brandon Holmquest | p.7 | |
| Sándor Kányádi: five poems translated from the Hungarian by Paul Sohar |
p.11 | |
| Kenji Miyazawa: “Ginko Nuts” translated from the Japanese by Nobumasa Hiroi |
p.29 | |
| Philippe Soupault: five poems translated from the French by Nick Moudry |
p.43 | |
| Juan Bosch: “The Masters” translated from the Spanish by Steve Dolph |
p.63 | |
| Tomaž Šalamun: five poems translated from the Slovenian by Joshua Beckman |
p.75 |
Calque, No. 2, May–June 2007 [PDF, 55 MB]
Contents
| Poetry | ||
| Luis Cernuda, Eleven Poems Translated from the Spanish by Stephen Kessler |
p.130 | |
| C. P. Cavafy, Four Poems Translated from the Greek by George Economou |
p.76 | |
| Ivan Goll, Five Poems Translated from the German by Donald Wellman |
p.86 | |
| Haizi, “Misfortune” Translated from the Chinese by Gerald Maa |
p.98 | |
| Hawad, from Détournement d’horizon Translated from the French by Pierre Joris |
p.44 | |
| Adam Mickiewicz, “Lilies” Translated from the Polish by Leonard Kress |
p.58 | |
| Psalms, from The Chamorro Bible Translated from the Chamorro by Craig Perez |
p.120 | |
| Aodhagán Ó Rathaille, Porinsias Nuinseann, and Mícheál Óg Ó Longáin, Selected Poems Translated from the Irish by Michael Begnal |
p.108 | |
| Fiction | ||
| Jenny Erpenbeck, from The Book of Words Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky |
p.154 | |
| Mikhail Sokovnin, from Pages from the Book of Varius Translated from the Russian by Bela Shayevich |
p.178 | |
| Marja-Liisa Vartigo, from Hers Were The Birds Translated from the Finnish by Jill Timbers |
p.166 | |
| Interviews | ||
| with Natasha Wimmer Translator of Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives |
p.08 | |
| with Bill Johnston Translator of Witold Gombrowicz’s Bacacay |
p.22 | |
| Reviews | ||
| The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño Translated by Natasha Wimmer |
p.196 | |
| Poems (1945–1971) by Miltos Sachtouris Translated by Karen Emmerich |
p.205 | |
Calque, No. 3, November 2007 [PDF, 79 MB]
Contents
| Translations | ||
| Dante Alighieri, Canto XXVI from Inferno Translated from the Italian by Stanley Lombardo |
p.20 | |
| Jean-Marie Damais, from A Spasm of Vacuity Translated from the French by Fabienne Pizot-Haymore |
p.230 | |
| Aline Desentis, “Dead Dog” Translated from the Spanish by Rebecca Crocker |
p.252 | |
| Ly Doi and Bui Chat, Selected Poems Translated from the Vietnemese by Linh Dinh |
p.150 | |
| Takashi Hiraide, from For the Fighting Spirit of the Walnut Translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu |
p.90 | |
| Gert Jonke, “Catalogue d’oiseaux” Translated from the German by Vincent Kling |
p.180 | |
| Birhan Keskin, 4 Poems Translated from the Turkish by George Messo |
p.200 | |
| Velimir Khlebnikov, “KA” Translated from the Russian by Sandra Newman |
p.110 | |
| Adrien Le Bihan, from The Meninotuar Translated from the French by Jeff Edmunds in collaboration with the author |
p.210 | |
| Frederic Nyberg, Selected Poems Translated from the Swedish by Jennifer Hayashida |
p.30 | |
| Alejandra Pizarnik, Three Poems Translated from the Spanish by Madeleine Stratford |
p.282 | |
| Christian Popescu, from The Popescu Art Translated from the Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin and Bodgan Ştefănescu |
p.78 | |
| Ernesto Sabato, from Uno y EI Universo Translated from the Spanish by Carl Toews |
p.100 | |
| Severo Sarduy, Selected Poems Translated from the Spanish by Suzanne Jill Levine |
p.260 | |
| Essay | ||
| Stephen Kessler “What Does It Take to Translate Poetry?” |
p.144 | |
| Interview | ||
| with Stanley Lombado Translator of Homer’s Odyssey { by Brandon Holmquest } |
p.10 | |
| Review | ||
| Severo Sarduy’s Beach Birds Translated by Suzanne Jill Levine & Carol Maier { by Philip Barnard } |
p.268 | |
Calque, No. 4, Spring 2008 [PDF, 67 MB]
Contents
| Translations | ||
| Yves Bonnefoy, from Pierre écrite Translated from the French by Marc Elihu Hofstadter |
p.126 | |
| Astrid Cabral, from Cage Translated from the Portugese by Alexis Levitn |
p.110 | |
| Laura Solórzano, from Lost Mouth Translated from the Spanish by Jen Hofer |
p.214 | |
| Ernest Farrés, from Edward Hopper Translated from the Catalan by Lawrence Venuti |
p.62 | |
| Dmitry Golynko, “Elementary Things” Translated from the Russian by Eugene Ostashevksy |
p.82 | |
| Bruno Jasienski, from I Burn Paris Translated from the Polish by Soren A. Gauger and Marcin Piekoszewski |
p.134 | |
| Rieko Matsuura, from The Apprenticeship of Big Toe P Translated from the Japanese by Michael Emmerich |
p.31 | |
| Aldo Palazzeschi, from The Arsonist Translated from the Italian by Nicholas Benson |
p.164 | |
| José Saramago, “The Nonexistent Narrator” Translated from the Portuguese by Albert Braz |
p.198 | |
| Kazuko Shiraishi, from My Floating Mother, City Translated from the Japanese by Samuel Grolmes and Yumiko Tsumura |
p.206 | |
| Ko Un, from Songs for Tomorrow Translated from the Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé, Young-moo Kim and Gary Gach |
p.150 | |
| Interview | ||
| with Michael Emmerich Translator of Kawabata Yasunari’s First Snow on Fuji { by Jeff Edmunds } |
p.08 | |
| Reviews | ||
| Roberto Bolaño // Nazi Literature in the Americas Translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews { by Brandon Holmquest } |
p.226 | |
| Florence Delay and Jacques Roubaud // Graal Théâtre { by John Taylor } |
p.236 | |
Calque, No. 5, Spring 2009 [PDF, 97 MB]
Contents
| Translations | ||
| Evgeny Baratynsky, Nine Poems Translated from the Russian by Ilya Bernstein |
p.256 | |
| Paul Celan, from Lichtzwang / Light Compelled Translated from the German by Amos Weisz Introduction by Sandra Newman |
p.120 | |
| Contemporary River Plate Poetry Selected and Translated from the Spanish by Ben Bollig |
p.160 | |
| Rita Dahl, from Aforismien aika Translated from the Finnish by Leena Saarelainen |
p.114 | |
| Lorand Gaspar, “The House by the Sea (I)” Translated from the French by Daniela Hurezanu and Stephen Kessler |
p.18 | |
| Ričardas Gavelis, from Vilinus Poker Translated from the Lithuanian by Elizabeth Novickas |
p.276 | |
| Per Højholt, from Praxis, 8: Album, tumult Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken |
p.300 | |
| Bohumil Hrabal, “Baptism, 1947” Translated from the Czech by Ema Katrovas |
p.60 | |
| Mohammed Khodeir, “God of the Swamps” Translated from the Arabic by Rafed A. Khashan |
p.350 | |
| Pavel Lembersky, Three Stories Translated from the Russian by Sergey Levchin |
p.334 | |
| Ghérasim Luca, from The Passive Vampire Translated from the French by Krzysztof Fijalkowski |
p.146 | |
| Osip Mandelstam, from The Voronezh Notebooks Translated from the Russian by John High and Matvei Yankelevich |
p.48 | |
| Qutban, from Mirigāvatī Translated from the Hindavī by Aditya Behl |
p.68 | |
| Manuel Rivas, from From Unknown to Unknown Translated from the Galician by Jonathan Dunne |
p.236 | |
| Sagawa Chika, from The Collected Poems of Sagawa Chika Translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakasu |
p.290 | |
| Dan Sociu, from eXcessive Songs Translated from the Romanian by Adam Sorkin and the poet with Mihaela Niţă & Four Sonnets Translated from the Romanian by Paul Killebrew in collaboration with the poet |
p.24 | |
| Interview | ||
| with Lorand Gaspar by Daniela Hurezanu |
p.12 | |
| Review | ||
| Jean-Phillipe Toussaint // Three Works by Jeff Waxman |
p.364 | |
| Introductions | ||
| César Aira’s Ghosts by Chris Andrews |
p.356 | |
| Adolfo Bioy Casares’s Selected Stories by Suzanne J. Levine |
p.360 | |
| Dunya Mikhail’s Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea by Liz Winslow |
p.362 | |
| Koji Suzuki’s Death and the Flower by Maya Robinson |
p.358 | |
