Mexico Connect's James Tipton Reviews Chapbook of Poems by Jorge Fernandez Granados, translated by John Oliver Simon (Tameme, 2008)

James Tipton writes,

Many readers of Mexico Connect have discovered these illuminating words by Octavio Paz: "In the United States the word death burns the lips, but the Mexican lives close to it, jokes about it, caresses it, celebrates it, sleeps with it, it is his favorite toy." Those words are echoed in the translator's (John Oliver Simon's) introduction to Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles, by Jorge Fernández Granados ... READ MORE.

Jorge Fernandez Granados y John Oliver Simon

Una nota acerca de su cuaderno en el blog de Malva Fores, Casa nomada.

Jorge Fernandez Granados & John Oliver Simon

News from Tameme Chapbooks ~ Cuadernos --- all over the Mexico City press!

Milenio
...Autor de poemarios como Resurrección o El cristal, así como del volumen de cuentos El cartógrafo, Jorge Fernández Granados por vez primera es traducido al inglés bajo el título Ghosts of de Palace of Blue Tiles –Los fantasmas del Palacio de los Azulejos- (Tameme Chapbooks, 2008). “Tengo la convicción de que en un mundo globalizado, donde las fronteras políticas pierden importancia frente a la tecnología y a la comunicación, un texto que pueda ser leído por otros lectores, en otra lengua, permite ingresar a otra dimensión. Y la traducción es un trabajo de coinvención o de segunda creación, que de ninguna manera hay un autor y sus traductores, sino son varios autores que crean el texto en otro código: un buen traductor puede hacer que un texto viva y uno malo lo puede matar para siempre.”
...READ MORE


El Universal El poeta y traductor estadounidense John Oliver Simon estará de visita en México para ofrecer un par de lecturas poéticas, el próximo miércoles en la Casa del Poeta, de esta ciudad, y el viernes en la Casa del Escritor, en Puebla. Oliver Simon también aprovechará su visita para presentar Ghosts of the palace of blue tiles (Los fantasmas del palacio de los azulejos, Tameme Chapbooks, 2008), traducciones suyas del poeta mexicano Jorge Fernández Granados. El libro fue publicado en el prestigiado sello californiano Tameme, dirigido por C. M. Mayo, tras haber sido seleccionado como el mejor manuscrito y traducción de una obra literaria mexicana contemporánea a partir de una convocatoria lanzada por la editorial.... READ MORE


El Universal (another article) A la par de la creación poética, John Oliver Simon es el traductor por excelencia de los poetas latinoamericanos. Lo mismo ha traducido al inglés la obra de Gonzalo Rojas, que la de José Emilio Pacheco, Rodolfo Hinistroza, David Huerta, Elsa Cross y Jorge Fernández Granados. Su aprecio por la poesía lo llevó a fundar en San Francisco el Poetry Inside Out, un programa de traducción literaria entre niños de escuelas primarias, con el que busca valorar el papel de la poesía en la educación... READ MORE


El Porvenir
La antología "Los fantasmas del palacio de los azulejos", de Jorge Fernández, la cual conforma una visión unitaria de la poética de su autor, y el libro "Principio de incertidumbre" serán presentados el 12 de agosto, en la Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl. En la presentación de "Ghosts of the Palace of blue tiles", (Los fantasmas del palacio de los azulejos), primer cuaderno antológico en inglés del poeta Jorge Fernández Granados, participarán María Baranda, Josu Landa, John Oliver Simon, Jorge volpi y el autor. El cuaderno editado por Tameme, es el resultado de una amplia convocatoria lanzada por el sello en Estados Unidos para publicar el mejor manuscrito y traducción de una obra mexicana... READ MORE

Jorge Fernandez Granados and John Oliver Simon in Mexico

Book presentations and readings--- read all about it here. More anon.

Tameme on National Book Critics Circle Blog, "Critical Mass"

Rigoberto Gonzalez's interview with Yours Truly, about Tameme chapbooks, Agustin Cadena, and Jorge Fernandez Granados, is here. More anon.

Poetry in Translation

Announcement from my fellow translator, Yvette Neisser Moreno---this Thursday, April 24th at 7 pm at the Kensington Row Bookshop:

In honor of National Poetry Month, join poet and translator Yvette Neisser Moreno for her 2nd annual open discussion of the April issue of Poetry magazine, which is devoted to poetry in translation. This is a fantastic and fascinating issue featuring some of the most prominent poets from all over the world, from ancient times to the present, as well as some of the most preeminent translators. Each poem is accompanied by a commentary by the translator, providing a window into the translator's approach and process. Featured poets include Anna Akhmatova, Ovid, and Rilke; translators include Eavan Boland, Robert Bly, Peter Cole, Jonathan Galassi, and Mary Kinzie. If you’re interested in participating, please sign up at Kensington Row Bookshop or contact Yvette at yvettenm@verizon.net. Free copies of the magazine are available for the first 10 people who sign up. (You can also pick it up for $3.75 at most major bookstores in April.) For a sneak peak at the magazine, check out www.poetrymagazine.org Anyone who loves to read and talk about literature and language is encouraged to come, regardless of whether you have any background in the topic! For address and directions, call the bookshop at (301) 949-9416 or go to www.kensingtonrowbookshop.com.

And speaking of poetry in translation, be sure to have a look at Tameme's new chapbook, "Los fantasmas del Palacio de los Azulejos / Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles" --- poems by Jorge Fernandez Granados translated by John Oliver Simon.

New from Tameme Chapbooks ~ Cuadernos: "Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles" by Jorge Fernández Granados

Here's the letter that went out today:

Dear friends and amigos of Tameme:

As many of you know, Tameme recently ceased publication of the Tameme literary journal in order to focus on publishing chapbooks. Our mission is to promote English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English literary translation by publishing new writing from North America— Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. With the chapbooks, we celebrate and disseminate this new writing and translation in an attractive and more affordable format.

We are delighted to announce the publication of Tameme's second bilingual chapbook, "Los fantasmas del Palacio de los Azulejos" / "Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles," a beautiful collection poems by one of the most outstanding Mexican poets of his generation, Jorge Fernández Granados, splendidly translated by John Oliver Simon.

Click here to read the title poem, "Los fantasmas del Palacio de los Azulejos" / "Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles". The chapbook's cover painting, "Tiled Window, Seashell and View of Mexico City," is by acclaimed Mexican artist Elena Climent. Please consider purchasing a copy for yourself, for friends (it makes a great gift!), and if you teach, please also consider adopting a Tameme chapbook as a textbook. Read about our other titles, including last year's chapbook, "Carne verde, piel negra / An Avocado from Michoacan," a short story by Agustin Cadena, translated by C.M. Mayo, in the Tameme catalog.

Tameme, Inc. is a nonprofit foundation based in the state of California. Your purchase and / or donation help support quality literary translation and intercultural understanding.

Sincerely,
C.M. Mayo
Editor, Tameme www.tameme.org

P.S. More related links:
-->Jorge Fernández Granados's webpage.
-->Interview with Jorge Fernández Granados in La Jornada.
-->John Oliver Simon's webpage.
-->Recent interview on MiPOesias with editor C.M. Mayo.

At Tameme's Table in the AWP Bookfair NYC

C'est moi with visiting photographer Miriam Berkley---photo by my sister, Alice. I'm about to send out the announcements about Tameme's beautiful new chapbook of poetry by Jorge Fernandez Granados, translated by John Oliver Simon.... More anon.

Tameme: Kudos & Off to AWP

Pictured right: The new Tameme chapbook, of poems by Mexican Jorge Fernandez Granados, translated by John Oliver Simon, has been shipped from the printers in San Francisco... I have yet to see it myself... I hear it looks good... It should be on the Tameme table at the AWP bookfair in New York City's Hilton this Thursday-Saturday. Here are some kudos for both Tameme's catalog and the first chapbook, published last January 07, (pictured left), "An Avocado from Michoacan", by Mexico's master of the short story, Agustin Cadena:

“The appearance of Tameme Chapbooks / Cuadernos #1 is an overwhelming success. Its vibrant four-color cover and expert design beautifully and subtly underlies Tameme’s important mission to promote artistic collaborations between English and Spanish translators and writers from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico... a resounding celebration of a new beginning for this necessary venture in publishing.”
—Harry Morales, literary translator

"This is a beautiful, evocative short story that's also handsomely produced."
—Daniel Olivas, author of Devil Talk: Stories (Bilingual Press), La Bloga

"A poetically spare story of love and loss... Reading this beautiful chapbook gave me insight into the writing and translation process... a delicious glimpse behind the scenes."
—Leslie Pietrzyk, author of A Year and a Day and Pears on a Willow Tree

"[A] really well put together chapbook. Tameme has been consistent in regards to one specific thing, everything they print is bilingual— the material is translated and as you turn the pages, the left side of the book is in the original Spanish, and the right side is the translated English. With the chapbook series, Mayo, who is also the publisher at Tameme, has also included her translator's notes, which are fascinating in their own right, and an interview, which is also bilingual in print. All combined, the chapbook is a very visually stunning book of 24 pages. The story itself is full of imagery...a great pace to it, and the images that the old woman and the narrator both bring out in their conversations are beautiful."
—Dan Wickett, Emerging Writers Network

"An evocative story... I enjoyed reading it enormously."
—Marco Portales, Professor of English, Texas A & M University, author of Latino Sun Rising

"Truly Tameme and C.M. Mayo are doing fine work and I hope others will visit the website and support the press: http://www.tameme.org/
—Robert Giron, in Chez Robert Giron

Kudos also from Amanada Powell, Rigoberto Gonzalez in the El Paso Times, Jeff Biggers in Bloomsbury Review, and more... Gracias to all!!

About the cover paintings:
--->On Cadena's "An Avocado from Michoacan": "Avocados" by Edgardo Soberon.
--->On Fernandez Granados's "Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles" "Tiled Window, Seashell and View of Mexico City" by Elena Climent.

If You're Bilingual, You Count Twice

The Tameme T-shirt says so! Bilingually, por supuesto. Get yours, size XL, colors of the rainbow, supplies while they last--- along with the beautiful new chapbook ~ cuaderno by Jorge Fernandez Granados (translated by John Oliver Simon)--- at the Tameme table, which is #85, in the AWP bookfair in New York City's Hilton. Though the AWP conference is sold out, the bookfair will be open to the public on Saturday February 2nd, starting at 8:30 a.m.

P.S. Elena Climent is the cover artist--- view her painting, "Tiled Window and Seashell with View to Mexico City."

P.S.S. My own books, Sky Over El Nido, Miraculous Air, and Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion, will also be available at the Tameme table. Sky Over El Nido will also be available over at the University of Georgia Press table, and Miraculous Air also at the Milkweed Editions table. And check La Bloga for updates on the many Con Tinta events.

The New Tameme Chapbook is at the Printer

Not this printer---> but watch their video, it's a quadruple thumper. Tameme's new chapbook, Jorge Fernandez Granados' "Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles," (beautifully translated by John Oliver Simon), will be available at the AWP bookfair in New York City at the end of this month. Stay tuned.

Tameme @ AWP Bookfair in New York City

If you're coming to the Associated Writing Programs conference in New York City this January 30- February 2--- which, yowza, is SOLD OUT--- come on by the Tameme table in the bookfair. We'll have the new chapbook, a collection by award-winning Mexican poet Jorge Fernandez Granados, beautifully translated by John Oliver Simon--- as well as our first chapbook, the superb short story by Agustin Cadena, with a translation by Yours Truly. We'll also have the back issues of the Tameme literary journal, as well as some of my own books, notably, Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion.
P.S. Read an interview with John Oliver Simon--- and very shortly, we'll have the interview with Jorge Fernandez Granados up on the tameme.org website as well. More anon.

Los fantasmas del Palacio de los Azulejos ~ Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles

Spent this afternoon working on Tameme's second chapbook, the magical poems of Jorge Fernandez Granados, splendidly translated by John Oliver Simon. The title is Los fantasmas del Palacio de los Azulejos ~ Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles. The cover is being designed by Ines Hilde, and features this painting by Mexican artist Elena Climent (another of whose paintings adorns the cover of Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion). The annual American Literary Translators Conference is this weekend in Dallas, so I'll have a flyer, and of course, Tameme's other publications. The pub date for the Jorge Fernandez Granados / John Oliver Simon chapbook is January 2008--- just in time for AWP. If you'd like to be notified when it's published, please click here to join Tameme's mailing list. More anon.

Tameme's Second Chapbook: "Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles" Poems by Jorge Fernandez Granados, Translated by John Oliver Simon

The new Tameme chapbook will be a collection by Mexican poet Jorge Fernandez Granados, exquisitely translated by John Oliver Simon. More anon.