Moleküle der Revolte: Joyce Mansour wiederlesen und neu übersetzen, mit Emilie Moorhouse und Lisa Spalt, moderiert von Anna Luhn (Lesungen Gespräche)

In the organizer's words:

Naked

I float among the wrecks with steel mustaches

Rusted by interrupted dreams

Through the soft murmur of the sea[1]

Joyce Mansour (1928-1986) was a unique voice within the Surrealist movement, whose poetry burned with an intensity that set her apart from her contemporaries. She was born in England to a Syrian-Jewish family and grew up in Egypt. She later became a key figure in Parisian Surrealist circles, where her work was promoted by André Breton. Mansour's texts, which are raw, erotic and disturbing, revolve around themes such as desire, death and the subconscious.

The event will consist of a talk and reading with translators Emilie Moorhouse and Lisa Spalt, who have been instrumental in bringing Mansour's poems to a new audience. Spalt's most recent translation, Nur Besessene schwänzen das Grab (Czernin, 2024), introduces German-speaking readers to the poet's defiant and uncompromising perspective. The anthology Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems by Joyce Mansour (City Lights, 2023), translated and edited by Moorhouse, has similarly extended Mansour's reach in the English-speaking world and opened up her work to new readers.

The discussion, moderated by Anna Luhn, will address the challenges of translating Mansour's complex, sensual language and the enduring relevance of her work. As her words are brought to new life in translation, this conversation explores how her spirit transcends language and how she thereby asserts her place as one of the most radical voices in surrealist literature.

[1] "Pericoloso Sporgersi", in: Serge Gavronsky, ed., Essential Poems and Writings of Joyce Mansour, Boston: Black Widow Press, 2008, p. 207.

Safi Faye Saal
In English and German with simultaneous translation
With: Anna Luhn, Emilie Moorhouse, Lisa Spalt