The Poetry Translation Centre has launched a new series of weekly Poem Podcasts on iTunes. Every Monday listeners will be introduced to a dazzling new poem by some of the world’s best loved poets. Each Poem Podcast is read in two languages: in its English translation followed by the poem in its original language.

Poets in the series include the immensely popular Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, who is famous in his native Sudan for his imaginative approach to poetry and the emotional frankness of his lyrics; Farzaneh Khojandi, Tajikistan’s foremost living writer, whose poetry draws on the rich traditional of Persian literature in a subversive and humorous way; and Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac ‘Gaarriye’, a superstar in the poetry-obsessed Somali community.

Each of the international poets has been co-translated by one of the foremost poets writing in English today. Commonwealth and Forward Prize winner - Jo Shapcott, TS Eliot and Forward Prize winner - Sean O’Brien, Forward Prize winner - Jamie McKendrick, Cholmondeley Award winner - Mimi Khalvati, and Whitbread winner Bernard O’Donoghue are among the list of distinguished poets who have worked with the PTC to make these exciting international poets available in English.

Sarah Maguire, Director of the Poetry Translation Centre says, “The joy of these Poem Podcasts is being able to hear the poem read first in English translation by one of the UK’s most respected poets, then in the original language, usually by the poets themselves. This unique series of poems in translation includes an astonishingly wide range of poems – in ten different languages from Arabic to Zapotec – and we hope that by making the Poem Podcasts available on iTunes we can introduce listeners to the vibrant literary traditions from which these remarkable poems spring.”

Once posted, all the Poem Podcasts will be available in MP3 format to download and keep on a computer or mobile phone.

The Poem Podcasts are available on iTunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/poempodcasts/id392269965

For more information about The Poetry Translation Centre, please visit their website at: www.poetrytranslation.org