Synopsis
This is a comprehensive single-author anthological collection of the significant Australian contemporary poet Chirstopher (Kit) Kelen. It is also a bilingual anthology, presenting his work in both the original English, as well as in Romanian.
Translated by the experienced prize-winning translators Daniel Ionita and Adriana Paul
About the Authors
Christopher (Kit) Kelen is a poet and painter, resident in the Myall Lakes of NSW. Published widely since the seventies, he has a dozen full length collections in English as well as translated books of poetry in Chinese, Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Swedish, Norwegian, Filipino, Greek, with an Esperanto volume to follow. Swimming in the Storm is Kit Kelen's first volume of poems presenting a Romanian translation alongside the original English. Kit's father, Kelen Istvan (Stephen), journalist and novelist, and table-tennis world champion with the Hungarian team from 1929-1935, first arrived in Australia in 1937, and later sought asylum there, serving in the Australian army, in New Guinea, Borneo and, after the war, in Japan. Stephen Kelen was the only foreign journalist to attend the first Peace Festival in Hiroshima, on August 6th, 1946, later publishing a memoir of the experience, titled I Remember Hiroshima. One of Kit's grandmothers was born in Carei, Transylvania (today's Romania).In 2022 Kit Kelen's published the volume Book of Mother (Puncher & Wattmann), and a bilingual (Greek and English) volume a postcard from the fires, a picture of the rains (Kaleidoscope, Athens). Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Macau, where he taught for many years, Kit Kelen is also a Professor at the University of Newcastle. In 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Malmo, in Sweden. Among Kelen's scholarly publications there are several monographs about poetry and children's literature, as well as two on national anthems - Anthem Quality - National Songs: A Theoretical Survey, and (with Aleksandr Pavkovic) Anthems and the Making of Nation States - Identity and Nationalism in the Balkans. His most recent scholarly book, Poetics and Ethics of Anthropomorphism - Children, Animals and Poetry with You Chengcheng (Routledge, 2022).Kit has been involved in poetry translation with several languages and directions and has had a long interest in the poetry of Central and Eastern Europe. In 2009 he published (in English) a volume of responses to Romanian poets (including Sorescu, Caraion, Cassian) titled, after Dinescu, God preserve me from those who want what's best for me. Series Editor for Flying Islands Books, Kit has mentored many poets and translators from various parts of the world and run several on-line communities of practice in poetry (notably Project 366 from 2016-2020). Kit is a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW. You can follow Kit's work-in-progress at the Daily Kit - https: //thedailykitkelen.blogspot.com/
Born in Bucharest, Romania, Daniel is a poet, literary critic, publisher, and translator. His collections of poetry were published in Australia (Short Bursts of Eternity - Flying Islands, Pentimento - Interactive Publications), Romania (Hanging Between The Stars - Minerva Publishing, ContraDiction - PIM Publishing, The Island of Words from Home - Limes Publishing). His poems have been included in several significant anthologies in USA, Canada, Romana, and Australia - for example in Puncher & Wattman's This Poem - This Gift, On First Looking, and All These Presences.In the last ten years Daniel has dedicated much of his time to poetry and literary translation. He produced the volumes Testament - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry, a representative collection of Romanian poetry in English (winner of the translation prize for 2019, in Bucharest). Then there is The Bessarabia of My Soul - representing, also in English, of poets from the Republic of Moldova (Poetry Prize in Moldova - for 2018)The most recent such volume is Return Ticket from Sydney to Bistrita - A Lyrical Carousel between the Antipodes. This unites, again bilingually, two groups of poets creating 17000 kilometers apart: "The Judith Beveridge Poetry Class" from Sydney and "Bistrita Poetry Group Literary Connections" (Conexiuni Literare, Bistrita) from Romania. Daniel is the current president of the Australian-Romanian Academy for Culture, and also manages Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing.
Adriana Paul has a particular affinity for translating poetry and song lyrics and has worked professionally in translation and interpreting, being fluent in five languages. Holding a Ph.D. in Physiology from the Université Laval (Quebec, Canada), Adriana has also worked as a scientist, conducting research and publishing in peer reviewed scientific magazines. Sydney based since her adolescence, Adriana is a Romanian-born lyric soprano. She has studied bel canto at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has been performing in Australia and Canada as a recital soloist, in shows and in shows and concerts, collaborating with renowned vocal groups such as The Tallis Scholars (UK) and Amarcord Ensemble (Germany).
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