Poetry | E. Rowan Mena

Anomalous Chapbooks

March 17, 2012 by E. Rowan

Well, our one-year anniversary issue just went live on the Ides. And it’s awesome! Mad Lib poems, non-fiction/poetry, translation and more. And we’re just about to launch our series of chapbooks! So, without further ado, our first ever chapbook contest! ANOMALOUS PRESS ANNOUNCES OUR FIRST-EVER CHAPBOOK CONTEST! March 15 – May 15 $500 prize plus publication! Finalist manuscripts will also be considered for publication, and all submissions will be considered for publication in the journal. $15 fee. We will publish the […]

Categories: Poetry, Publishing, Translation • Tags: Anomalous, Anomalous Press, chapbook, chapbook contest, christian hawkey, literary translation, poetry, translation

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Caribbean Poetry

November 22, 2011 by E. Rowan

Did I fail to mention that the new Words Without Borders (and it’s not so new anymore, but still awesome) features writing from the Caribbean and I have four poems that I translated in it? Oh, Erica… Well, it does, and I’m pretty happy with them. Two by the Dominican poet José Mármol, one by the Dominican poet Aurora Arias, and one by the Puerto Rican poet José María Lima. You can read them here.

Categories: Poetry, Translation • Tags: Aurora Arias, caribbean poetry, erica mena, José María Lima, José Mármol, poetry, translation, Words without Borders

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Nathalie Handal's Poet in Andalucia

October 24, 2011 by E. Rowan

A few weeks ago the exceptional poet Nathalie Handal contacted me about a project of hers, Poet in Andalucía, which is an interesting reversal of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Poet in New York. The book is being translated into Spanish, and she asked me to look over a few of the translations and give some feedback. It was a pleasure to do, and now I’m even more excited about the book. I first met Nathalie Handal in Chile in 2004 during the […]

Categories: Poetry, Translation • Tags: Martín Espada, Nathalie Handal, Poet in Andalucía, poetry, Rattapallax, translation

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Submitting Myself

October 14, 2011 by E. Rowan

Starting last year I began seriously working on my own poetry again, making it a priority. I had an idea, and wanted to see it through the same way I have with my translations. And I’ve been really satisfied with that. So now that it’s been through my editorial-brain wringer a few times, and I’m sure I’m not going to embarrass myself, I’m starting to think about places to send it. And that’s a hard question. I’m thinking about starting […]

Categories: Poetry, Publishing • Tags: journals, literary journals, poetry, publishing, submit, submitting

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Review of False Friends on Iowa Review

August 23, 2011 by E. Rowan

“The project of the book is to toy with language and meaning, with things that sound similar and even the same across languages but mean strange, funny, unusual, and odd things. This is the joy of cognates, as any language learner will tell you—the surprise they can bring to the familiar. By defamiliarizing these phrases, Bernofsky brilliantly constructs an unfamiliar reading experience in English.” Read the rest of my review of False Friends by Uljana Wolf, translated by Susan Bernofsky (Ugly […]

Categories: Poetry, Reviews, Translation • Tags: chapbook, cognates, experimental translation, False Friends, poetry, review, Susan Bernofsky, translation, Ugly Duckling Presse, Uljana Wolf

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Spam Poetry Book

April 25, 2011 by E. Rowan

Dear Honorable & Respected Literary Organization / Society . At the outset a privilege to be writing this email to you .It’d be an honor to have your support and mesmerizing patronization for my poetry . My styling of poetry / literature is inimitably unique and has never ever been written before or experimented by any mortal on the mortal planet . Though my poetry / literature is natural and normal . So begins an email I received today, to […]

Categories: Poetry • Tags: poetry, spam poem

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Why I won’t finish this book

April 22, 2011 by E. Rowan

A review of the first 11 pages of Poetry and Translation: The Art of the Impossible by Peter Robinson (Liverpool University Press, 2010). $95 My time is valuable, and I always have too much to read. There is so much great literature out there, and a lot of really interesting scholarship, and it piles and piles and I’ll never get to it all. So I’ve lately become more discerning, and if I find a book of criticism overly dull without […]

Categories: Poetry, Reviews, Translation

New Poems in Asymptote

April 17, 2011 by E. Rowan

Asymptote is a stunning new online journal of literary translation. Their first issue came out in February, and blew me away. And I’m thrilled that four of my translations of poems by Dominican poet José Mármol are included in the new April issue here, along with the Spanish originals and audio of the poet reading his originals. Also in the issue, an interview with the astounding Susan Bassnett, scores of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction and a bunch of reviews and […]

Categories: Poetry, Translation • Tags: Dominican Republic, José Mármol, poetry, translation

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The sky goes missing

April 6, 2011 by E. Rowan

This year I was asked to be on the committee for the Best Translated Book Award given out by Open Letter Books for newly-translated works of poetry and fiction published within the last year. It was great, not only did I get to read tons of great translated poetry, I got to talk seriously about it with other amazing poets and translators. And the award will be announced just after the translation slam at PEN World Voices! In the meantime, […]

Categories: Poetry, Reviews, Translation • Tags: Best Translated Book Award, Open Letter Books, PEN World Voices, review, Three Percent, Time of Sky & Castles in the Air, translation

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Timeless or timely

April 2, 2011 by E. Rowan

Over at Harriet, one of their poetry month guest bloggers, Rachel Zucker starts off with this question: “Is it more important to you that your poems be timeless or timely and why?” Why the absurdly simplistic (and plain absurd) dichotomy? Implied: it can only be one or the other. Implied: politics have no place in poetry. Implied: poetry should be distanced from the world. But surprising from Zucker, whose poetry is so engaged. Perhaps she’s playing into the common (mis)understanding of poetry’s […]

Categories: Poetry

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E. Rowan Mena

Poet | Book Artist | Translator

Category Archives: Poetry

Anomalous Chapbooks

Caribbean Poetry

Nathalie Handal's Poet in Andalucia

Submitting Myself

Review of False Friends on Iowa Review

Spam Poetry Book

Why I won’t finish this book

New Poems in Asymptote

The sky goes missing

Timeless or timely