Christopher Mattison
© Jody Beenk

It took a relatively long time to assemble the first book of translations for two practical reasons: first, there were significant sections of the first book in Russian (Flick) that I did not think would translate effectively into English — based primarily on cultural references. So, I translated just over half of the first book between 2001 and 2003, and then continued to work on new poems over the next six years as Shulpyakov finished writing them; second, I was not yet convinced that I could pull off an entire book, considering how his poetry diverged from what I’d been used to translating and, related to that, feeling like I would need several years to read who he was reading and responding to in order to find a voice for him in English translation. Many of his briefer, denser poems were reminiscent of some of my own writing from the late nineties, which provided the additional stricture of finding a voice in English translation that was not my own. Understanding familiarity and distance.

This translational symmetry lies at the core of Gleb Shulpyakov’s work, in that his poems are layered with multiple eras and cultural referents, all existing simultaneously.

Finishing up work now on the second collection of Gleb Shulpyakov’s writing, I am feeling more comfortable in our respective skins. His understanding of the world has gradually worked its way into my allusions, so that I am no longer just reading new poems as they arrive, but starting to experience the stories behind the lines when reading the work for the first time. To expand on a point from the opening paragraph, this does not involve a “replication” or “negotiation,” but rather the development of a space that allows “symmetry” between the author and translator. On the double-page spread of an en face edition, time and the specific observer are constants, though each observer has a markedly different relationship to the dual texts. This translational symmetry lies at the core of Gleb Shulpyakov’s work, in that his poems are layered with multiple eras and cultural referents, all existing simultaneously. A standard reflective mode of translation, fixated on rhyme and syllable count, would have resulted in a disappointing monochromatic space with a tin ear.

The following poems were selected from the forthcoming collection, Letters to Yakub. Interspersed between each poem is an amalgam of responses from Shulpyakov and excerpts from my translation notebook. Taken together, they should — hopefully — add some incite into Shulpyakov’s Russian and the translation process into English.