Festival poem by Manfred Chobot translated

Translation by Mark Kanak

 

 

 

 

 

la luna

 

when you comb through my undergrowth

the hunters blow their horn

and raise their mugs

for the moon is within reach

with a western and an

eastern half and a crater in between

could be that it’s splitting

to the north and to the south

therefore no discourse may break

from the fence the strife

we sow elsewhere

it’s more appropriate to bend rather

than break the post

for the north speaks a plain

drained by a river

that always overflows its banks

raised by a god

pouring into fertility

swallowed by the sea in mouths

po and po

twins like romulus and remus

who formed one sex

po suckled by two teats and po

touching the cheeks of the moon

dissolved dreamlessly

and peacefully

in slumber

 

 

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Download of the sound recording of "la luna" under Creative Commons. Speaker is Christian Reiner

 

The festival poem "la luna" 2023 was written by Viennese poet Manfred Chobot. It was published by Deuticke Verlag in 2000. However, the rights to the poem currently returned to the author. Manfred Chobot makes the poem "la luna" available free of charge as part of a cooperation. We as a festival have commissioned translator Mark Kanak to translate the poem to allow for international contest submissions and distribution world-wide. The Art Visuals & Poetry Festival Film Festival provides the filmmakers with the poem rights in German, as well as the rights to the sound recording, and additionally the rights to the English translation under Creative Commons free of charge as part of the poetry film competition. Further submissions of the produced poetry film after "la luna" to other festivals are also possible without restrictions and worldwide. Please mention the participating artists in the end credits: Poem Manfred Chobot. Translation Mark Kanak. Speaker Christian Reiner.

 

 

MANFRED CHOBOT was born in Vienna in 1947. He is a freelance writer and poet who now lives in Illmitz (Burgenland), Vienna and Corralejo (Fuerteventura). In his works Chobot deals with current affairs and cultural fringe phenomena. He is a board member of the Graz Authors' Assembly, the European writers' association Kogge and IG-AutorInnen, as well as a member of the literary circle Podium. In 1971 he and his wife opened the Yppen Gallery, later renamed the Chobot Gallery. With his picture poems he participated in photo exhibitions in Austria, Germany and France. As a founder, freelancer, publisher and editor, the author has worked for radio, television, theater, publishing houses and magazines. He participates in international literary festivals, readings and congresses. His work has earned him numerous awards and grants. In 2019, he was awarded the Golden Medal of Merit of the State of Vienna. Chobot's works appear in Spanish, French, English, Slovak, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Hindi, Bangla, Slovenian, Dutch, and Lithuanian.

Other awards: 2003 Honorary Doctorate of Literature from WAAC (World Academy of Arts and Culture), 2006 Literature Prize of the Province of Burgenland, 2007 BEWAG Literature Prize, 2017 Kathak Literary Award, Dhaka / Bangladesh, 2022 Laureate of the Burgenland Foundation Theodor Kery. http://www.chobot.at

 

MARK KANAK, author, translator, radioplay artist, lives in Berlin.  Prose/poems (German and English) in journals, etc. Numerous translations into English (Serner, Brinkmann, Rühm, etc.). Most recently published: Walter Serner's "Last Loosening: A Handbook for the Con Artist and Those Who Aspire to Become One (2020, Twisted Spoon), Blixa Bargeld: Europa Crosswise (2022, Contra Mundum Press).  His radioplay "Tollhaus" (starring Blixa Bargeld) was nominated for Radio Play of the Year at the German Record Critics' Award (Wortkunst) and Best Radio Play (German Audio Book Award).