Gabi Reigh winner of The Stephen Spender Prize 2017
Curriculum Manager for English language and literature, Gabi Reigh has been awarded first prize in The Stephen Spender Prize 2017 for poetry in translation.
Entrants are invited to translate a poem from any language into English and submit both the original and their translation, together with a commentary of not more than 300 words. This year, the judges were Sean O’Brien (poet, critic and Professor of creative writing), Olivia McCannon (poet and translator) and Margaret Jull Costa (literary translator). The commentary should shed light on the translation process, revealing decisions the translators have made and their reason for choosing the poem.
Gabi translated Marin Sorescu’s poem ‘The traveller’ from Romanian into English for the ‘Open Category’. Judge Olivia McCannon said, “The judges unanimously selected Gabi Reigh’s translation as the winner in the ‘Open Category’. We admired her ear for the restless tone of the poem, her skill in creating a convincing texture out of unsettling shifts and unexpected associations.”
Well done Gabi! You can see her translation here.
