“Handkerchief”
Collaborators’ Q&A: Do you see an overlap between the act of translation and the act of responding visually to a piece of literature? Artist Douglas Culhane: Both involve interpretation and recreation. Both require a fidelity to the original as well as a commitment to the truth and presentation of the reimagined work. Translator Fady Joudah: Life is not possible without translation. I mean that literally, at DNA level.
Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan is the author of ten collections of poetry, most recently Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me. Translator Fady Joudah is a poet and physician. His translation of Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me won the Griffin Poetry Prize. Artist Douglas Culhane works in sculpture and drawing. He has exhibited in New York and New England.Â