Poethreesome
H18:30
H18:30
Free entry, registration here.
Poetry and translation, readings with Martina Caluori, Marko Miladinović e Elodie Olson-Coons
Poets around the world have always translated other poets, often without even knowing the source language. Given the poor contacts between Swiss poets from different language areas, and noting that mental barriers may be more granitic than physical ones, Babel conceived the project titled Poethreesome in 2016.
Each year, three Swiss poets translate each other into three national languages. When they do not know the source language, they rely on the mediation of interlinear versions-word for word, with notes on lexicon and prosody prepared by scholars or other poets or translators-or on a shared lingua franca. In any case, the translator and the translated always share a language, that of poetry. Poetic language knows no barriers, not even linguistic ones, that cannot be overcome. Both for writers and for readers. Translation between writers from different linguistic areas thus offers a model of mediation for approaching other people’s cultures and ways of being.
The results of this work are presented at national and international literary events and finally published in Specimen. The Babel Review of Translations.
The 2024 edition of Poethreesome features Martina Caluori, Marko Miladinović e Elodie Olson-Coons engaging in mutual writing and translation. As usual, readings by the poets from previous editions will continue in parallel.
Project promoted by Babel Festival in collaboration with Istituto Svizzero, Città di Lugano Cultura and MRL Maison Rousseau et Littérature.
With the support of Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council and Fondazione Oertli.
Biographies:
Martina Caluori is a Swiss poet and writer whose work spans interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary fields. With a strong interest in multilingual writing, she actively contributes to a range of artistic and cultural projects. After studying media and film, she made her poetry debut with Frag den Moment (Pro Lyrica, 2019), followed by dialect poetry in Öpadia – A Novella us Graubünda (Arisverlag, 2021), and her short prose debut Weisswein zum Frühstück (lectorbooks, 2022). In 2023, she published her poetry collection with accompanying audio work, Ich weine am liebsten in Klos (lectorbooks). The award-winning experimental literary film Rest in Poetry III (herrmauser) premiered in 2024. Her writing has also appeared in journals and anthologies. In 2022, she received the Literary Work Grant from the City of Chur, and in 2025, she was awarded the Major Work Grant in the Canton of Graubünden’s professional cultural creation competition. She is a member of A*dS (Authors of Switzerland).
Marko Miladinović is a poet and cultural practitioner based in Lugano. He participates in national and international events and has been invited to present his work in Switzerland, France, Tunisia, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Serbia, Colombia, and Italy. His practice includes sound poetry and video poetry, and he collaborates with both radio and film. A member of the Idra Association (Recipient of the 2024 Gottfried Keller Prize Honourary Gift) and founder of Ticino Poetry (2014), he curates cultural events and leads workshops in schools and academies. He is also the founder of the band Amiata (Pop Musik) — Alti Eldoradi (HumanKind Records, 2024). His publications include L’umanità gentile (Miraggi Ed., 2017) and Libro massimo di poesia (Agenzia X, 2024).
Elodie Olson-Coons is a writer currently based in Biel, Switzerland. Her interests include sound maps, wild swimming, inventories, collective creative practices, and cross-border solidarity. She works in both French and English. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, Music & Literature, [PANK], 3:AM Magazine, and in two print anthologies. In 2023, she was awarded a four-month SKK residency in Belgrade, where she researched river borders. As of 2025, she co-manages the independent bookshop La Méridienne.
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