The art of translation is useful to a poet because it calls for the practice of the craft in the absence of inspiration for one’s own work.

It is also, in David Young’s view, a way for a poet to carry on a giant conversation with poets of other languages, times, and places.

“When I translate,” says Young, “I inhabit the other poet’s world, however briefly, and sometimes sense that I am tracking the creative process that brought the original poem into being.”

Languages: • Italian • Chinese • German • Czech • Spanish •