Polish Arts Festival was very pleased to have 10 writers take part in Once Upon a Deadline in Translation.
For the Gdansk event they were:
Phil Terry - “The experience was great – and thanks for the translations of Polish poets which are beautifully done both in terms of production and translation, I don’t know how the originals read but it is rare to read translations which read so like, well, poems that aren’t translations.”
Kerry Hudson “I learned lessons, had conversations and produced work during my four days in Gdansk that will genuinely help shape my development as a writer and influence the work I produce in future. I am hugely grateful to have had the opportunity to participate and hope it will be an event which will continue to inspire writers like myself for years to come.”
Peter Moore
Christopher Shevlin - “I’m glad I went to Southend and heard the Polish writers’ stories – it seemed to complete the experience.”
Hamid Ismailov
The Polish writers in Southend were:
Urszula Chowaniec - “We live in times when we see it more and more clearly how important the translator is as an artist and that their work is sort of re-writing the work, rather that copying.”
Daniel Odija - “Among other things, such projects allow us to take a closer look at the world and to experience it all in direct contact.”
Przemek Gulda - “I also enjoyed the concept of working to a tight deadline, this really helps with motivation and the improving of one’s own organisational skills.”
Waldemar Bawołek - “The trip was a new experience for me. In a town like Southend we are dealing with a very specific kinds of culture. I would like to write about it in future texts.”
Adam Wiedemann - “It was good to hear my own work in translation.”