Sinaan Antoon on Why Writers Should Translate
استفدت كثيراً من ترجمة الشعر التي أمارسها منذ سنوات
. I have benefited greatly from the translation of poetry….
فهي أهم تمرين، برأيي، بعد الكتابة نفسها لأنّك تواجه تحديّات العثور على المفردة الملائمة ونقل صور وتعابير من حيّز إلى آخر. It’s the most important exercise, in my opinion, after writing itself, as here you face the challenge of finding appropriate individual words, as well as transferring images and expressions from one space to another.
This is a positively dreadful translation from an interview in As-Safir.
More from Sinaan Antoon.

Sinaan Antoon on the West’s ‘Forensic Interest’ in the Arab World « Arabic Literature (in English)
March 4, 2010 @ 4:44 am
[…] Jump to Comments As part of the book-fair coverage in Abu Dhabi, The National has interviewed Sinaan Antoon. The U.S.-based Iraqi writer discusses his next novel project (No. 2) and the West’s […]
Why You Should Translate Arabic Novels into English (Yes, You) « Arabic Literature (in English)
March 30, 2010 @ 4:25 am
[…] know Pasternak translated Shakespeare into Russian; Sinaan Antoon also speaks of the importance of translation in developing one’s craft. Possibly related posts: […]