Muqabalal

Akpa Arinzechukwu•podcasters.spotify.com

Engaging poets in conversations, one translation at a time, with the writer, Akpa Arinzechukwu. And poems from all over the world, translated from their original languages into Igbo, and other languages, with Akpa Arinzechukwu & A'bena Awuku-Larbi. You can follow us on Twitter for more updates: twitter.com/muqabalal twitter.com/akpaah twitter.com/this_abena

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Episodes

Poem a Day in Translation

I had the pleasure of meeting Clifton Gachagua a few days after I fell in love with 'Promenade'. And being me, of course asked him about the poem: what inspired it; what does it mean; who's the dog; the lady? He shrugged as all genius creatives do when asked such needless questions; for once art is consumed, it's down to the 'beholder' to shape it as they please. What excites me about Promenade is how EVERY time I read it, I want to read it out loud. It demands to be heard, whilst obstinately re...

Jan 24, 2023•6 min•Ep. 10

Poem a Day in Translation

Between regaining bits of my memory & recovering from an illness, this poem written by Cullota & Richmond becomes a door through which I am set free, & realising that A'bena & I had long done a recording of this poem in the first week of January. This poem is a journey for me. I hope we both find each other.

Jan 24, 2023•9 min•Ep. 9

Poem a Day in Translation

Grief Worn is an analysis of a grieving person. It is a psychiatric evaluation as well as a commentary on loss. The story of Prophet Jeremiah of the Bible comes to mind here. It is as if Richmond, after listening to the writer of Lamentations, took a notepad and pen to narrate to casual observers the loneliness that loss brings. In communities that promote individualism, life after losing a loved one is a difficult one to navigate. While others are outside having fun, the bereaved are inside fee...

Jan 24, 2023•4 min•Ep. 8

Poem a Day in Translation

Everything about the poem is like dancing the Tango. It addresses vulnerability, the strength and beauty of the male body. The male body is a glorious thing to behold. It is too glorious a thing to be bound by the kind of stereotypes society places on them. I liked that Loic addressed these dynamics.

Jan 24, 2023•11 min•Ep. 7

Poem a Day in Translation

Elizabeth's poem was something I stumbled upon scrolling through Twitter. As I read it, that hymn was an earworm. I marvelled at how well she captured these emotions in text. I liked that she asked questions without attempting to answer them or give some philosophical saying. I think that is what life is all about asking questions you have no answers to. This is how we become whole, questioning the point of it all. As regards language, the parts in Twi were to me what sounded similar to the hymn...

Jan 12, 2023•12 min•Ep. 6

Poem a Day in Translation

Stefanescu’s After Moving Back to Alabama is a harrowing poem. It gallops on bewilderment and rituals. When we tell people we love them, do we intend to love them without their past? What question does our love beg to answer? It is as if by choice the persona of the poem brings back their family to a place they once lived, just to introduce them back to a past they had on that Alabama soil, the red dirt that made them. I love you is the most unoriginal thing to say to each other, yet when we say...

Jan 11, 2023•9 min•Ep. 5

Poem a Day in Translation

When Akpa asked me to choose a poem, he sent me three poets. Ilya Kaminsky was one of them. I was familiar with his work but I loved his name more. It reminds me of the jingle of a tiny bell. I liked it. So I browsed his catalogue of poems. I passed by this poem six times. I was deliberately avoiding it. Until I could no longer. That poem put my face in the reality of whatever happened that night and the events that followed. I experienced again, the full spectrum of emotions.

Jan 09, 2023•14 min•Ep. 4

Poem a Day in Translation

When we selected this poem, I was thinking about relationships — how one minute, we are in the kitchen making tasty meals, and the next we are writing and recording our podcast, and another, we are alone in our respective rooms, far from each other, drowning. And how, no matter how close you are with someone, they really don't know you beyond what you are willing to share. I was thinking about abandonment. Oftentimes, families are the first to hurt you. Friends, same. You come out to your family...

Jan 08, 2023•11 min•Ep. 3

Poem a Day in Translation

In this poem, my acceptance of this state of be-ing finds vivid color. Feeling thirst without the expectation of satisfaction is also something sacred.

Jan 07, 2023•11 min•Ep. 2

Poem a Day in Translation

A'bena and I are on a 20-days translation challenge. We select random poems from anywhere in the world, translate them by default into the Igbo language, and into any of the more than four languages A'bena is familiar with. For our first instalment, we pick Pamilerin Jacob's It Is Impossible to Live. It is a poem that mirrors a people's loss, struggle and collective grief. I am writing this because a bullet didn't start its journey towards me. It did not start towards you. We are here because ev...

Jan 06, 2023•10 min•Ep. 1

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