Elisa Chavez - Blog Posts

“La sirena y el pescador,” Elisa Chavez.

Hey all! This poem is part of my chapbook Miss Translated, which I produced in a limited run as Town Hall Seattle’s Spring 2017 artist-in-residence. The main conceit behind this work is that to accurately portray my relationship with Spanish, I have to explore the pain and ambiguity of not speaking the language of my grandparents and ancestors. As a result, these poems are bilingual … sort of. Each one is translated into English incorrectly.

The poems I produced have secrets, horrific twists, emotional rants, and confessions hiding in the Spanish. It’s my hope that people can appreciate them regardless of their level of Spanish proficiency.

The way the days are blending together right now is not helping me remember to post regularly.  I really do have a poem for every day of April, honest!

We left off with the importance of the name you give yourself.  La Sirena y el Pescador, by Elisa Chavez, looks at the power taken by those who claim to speak for you, particularly when you cannot speak directly for yourself.

Not all differences in translation are that problematic though.  Matsuo Basho's Frog Haiku has many different translations into English because parts of it do not have equivalent words.  The various translators use different methods to evoke the tone and "feel" of the original poem.

That leads us to the ultimate in poetry style disputes: Haiku vs. Limericks!  (Don't worry, we'll get to sonnets later in the month.)