Celebrating the UK-India Year of Culture
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Bath Spa University's Siân Dafydd publishes trilingual poetry collection
Monday, 12 March, 2018Siân Dafydd, Course Leader for Bath Spa University's MRes in Transnational Writing, is one of five poets from Wales who recently took part in an exchange trip, and paired up with five poets from India, as part of the British Council’s UK-India Year of Culture celebrations.
Through a series of events, the UK-India Year of Culture programme marked the close ties between the two nations since India’s independence in 1947.
As part of the initiative, Siân participated in a project led by Literature Across Frontiers which saw her travel to India where she was able to develop her intercultural dialogue through her interest in literature and translation.
Since taking part in the project, Siân has released a book titled A Different Water which contains poems written as part of her work with Indian poet Anitha Thampi.
Siân said: "Anitha and I have collaborated since 2011, translating and writing from each other's work. As part of this exciting project, Anitha resided with me in Bala, North Wales for two weeks and I stayed with her in Kerala, India for the same amount of time.
"The title for the book, A Different Water, was inspired by what Anitha and I discovered when we were exploring the idiom of being a 'fish out of water' throughout our time together. Her poem which is dedicated to her watery birthplace Alappuzha in Kerala is one of the pieces I translated into Welsh for the book and I related to it in many ways."
Transnational Writing sits within the subject area of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and within Bath Spa’s Centre for Research Centre for Transnational Creativity and Education (TRACE). The course develops students’ abilities to respond imaginatively to the world, bringing together creative writing, spoken word and research.
To find out more visit the course page.
Profile:
Siân Melangell Dafydd