Gaelic poetry book debuts this week
Beartan Briste
A new book of contemporary Gaelic poetry by Rody Gorman will debut in the Isle of Skye this week, at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (SMO – University of Highlands and Islands). His poetry collection Beartan Briste agus dàin Gàidhlig eile will be launched during the Sorley MacLean Conference at SMO on Friday, June 17th at 2 p.m.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Rody Gorman is Writer-in-Residence at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. He has worked as writing fellow at the University College Cork and the University of Manitoba, published a wide range of poetry collections and is editor of the annual Irish and Scottish Gaelic poetry anthology An Guth.
Beartan Briste includes the most innovative and entertaining of English translations as well – English intertongueings, Gorman calls them – and worth the read even for non-Gaelic readers. In his foreword to the volume, Gaelic scholar Robert Dunbar explains:
“Rody offers us something that is startlingly new. Over the last decade or more, there has emerged a lively debate in Gaelic literary criticism about the role and effects of translation, and the perpetual presence of English. Drawing on Edward Dwelly’s lexicographical masterpiece, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated Gaelic- English Dictionary, and the rich levels of meaning which it reveals, Rody’s ‘translations’ of his Gaelic originals turn things on their head, as one suspects that only those readers with sufficient Gaelic to understand how the context of the original informs meaning will be able to fully appreciate the meaning and the quite distinct artistry of the English.”
Using the famed Dictionary, Gorman incorporates as many of the English possibilities for the Gaelic as he can. Of course Gaelic is a highly contextual language and not easily translated. The English title of Beartan Briste, for instance, is Burstbroken Judgementshroudloomdeeds and other Gaelic Poems.
Here is what reviewers have to say:
“… a truly international literary experience, enriching the poetry of the islands and beyond in wholly unexpected ways.” Ian Duhig
“A’ dèanamh gàirdeachais ris a’ mhogal air leth trom faic luchd na Gàidhlig an saoghal.” Meg Bateman
“[Gorman reminds us that] the Gaelic is alive, vibrant, rich and able to engage with every subject, global or intimate…. [He] astonishes in his capacity to see extraordinary in the everyday, and the everyday in the extraordinary…. For the adventurous reader prepared to share its variegated journey, this collection promises a fascinating passage.” Aonghas MacNeacail
“Eadar-dhealaichte bho leabhar da-chànanach sam bith a tha air a bhith againn ann an saoghal na Gàidhlig gu ruige seo.” Maoilios Caimbeul
“Gorman’s fine poetry of wit and soul reveals the beauty of his Gaelic language, drawn like a breath of Hebridean air through fluent and inventive English translations.” Cilla McQueen
“Dh’fhaodte a ràdh gur e seòrsa ‘eadar-theanga’ a tha an seo, teacs a tha eadar dà chànan.” Wilson MacLeòid
Beartan Briste / Burstbroken Judgementshroudloomdeeds by Rody Gorman will soon be available in bookstores and on-line bookstores in Canada and the United Kingdom.
In 2008, CBU Press published Famhair / Giant contemporary Gaelic poetry of Nova Scotian poet Lewis MacKinnon.