Far Off Places - ‘The dream’ (Spanish to English translation) and other poems

My first published literary translation appeared in the Found in Translation volume of Far Off Places in Summer 2016.

"The dream" is my translation from Spanish to English of Segismundo's Monologue from the Golden Age Spanish play La Vida es Sueño, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

I really enjoy literary translation. This monologue is lovely, and has tight rhyme and meter, which made for an interesting challenge that I embraced.

This was my first of two appearances in Far Off Places, a great magazine that was based in Edinburgh.

It was a bittersweet feeling to have my poems, "A cave" and "Finding the fish" published in the final issue of, ‘But there is no end’, in Autumn 2018.

Both these poems come from my time living in Vigo, Galicia: the rocky coast, green mountains, and clear stars.

I performed at the launch in Edinburgh, to a really nice and warm audience, then spent hours sitting and chatting with the Far Off Places team. It is still one of my favourite poetry memories.