MASU students took part in the translation of a collection of poems by Russian and Norwegian poets
- 16.09.2021
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A presentation of the collection, published following the results of the competition of poetic translations «ArktikLirika» was held yesterday in Murmansk in the Festival Hall of Kirov Recreation Center. The event was held within the framework of the international forum «Russia and Norway — at the crossroads of Epochs and Cultures», dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The contest participants were poets and translators from two countries: Alla Matyukh, Ekaterina Yakovleva, Dmitry Korzhov, Lada Karitskaya, Oleg Targonsky, Nadezhda Novoselova, Ilya Vinogradov, Maxim Saltykov, Henning Waerp, Karen Appe Buljo, Linda Tangen, Marit Barbo. The project was organized during the period of COVID-19 isolation when personal connections between citizens of the two countries became remote.«At this difficult time for all of us, we tried to find new opportunities and solutions to support cultural ties between our states, continuing cooperation and implementing joint projects. One of the examples of such a successful solution was the international forum „Russia — Norway: at the crossroads of Epochs and Cultures“, dedicated to the bicentennial of the birth of the greatest Russian writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky,» said the Consul of the Kingdom of Norway in Murmansk Håkon Kristensen Moe.
The collection of poems by Russian and Norwegian poets amazes, at first, with the idea of its creation. It was really audacious and confident to suggest the poets of the two countries translate each other's works into the language of their compatriots. Students of the Murmansk Arctic State University joined the process. They made footnotes — literal translations used as drafts for literary translation — which the poets of the two countries brought to perfection.
«The most amazing moment came on April 20, 2021, when the masters of the word met on air and read their poems, and then their colleagues voiced the translations. The audience sobbed. The Murmansk Regional Scientific Library has never seen such a poetic competition before! It was both funny and touching at the same time. The creative atmosphere united the poets of the two countries, their readers and viewers, and for a moment everyone felt like just residents of a huge planet speaking the same language,» Svetlana Soldatova, Director of the Northern Character Production Center, recalls.
This project unexpectedly continued when Svetlana Soldatova met Alla Matyukh, who did the translation of a poem by the Norwegian poet Henning Waerp. Alla — a person with disabilities, but an infinitely talented author — did not have time for the award ceremony. The story of her translation formed the basis for the script of the short film «Dostoevsky and the Sweater» (0+). The film was shot this summer in Murmansk. The audience saw the premiere of the film at the presentation of the poetry collection, shot in the genre of comedy phantasmagoria. The film starred Murmansk journalists Ivan Gerasimov and Alexander Sunyaev, radio host Sonya Bazhenova, musician Oleg Myagkov as Dostoevsky, and Alla Matyukh played herself. After the premiere of the film, the organizers presented Alla with the prize of the «ArktikLirika» competition, which she did not have time to receive in April.
The contest of poetic translations «ArktikLirika» was organized by the Northern Character Production Center within the framework of the international forum «Russia and Norway — at the crossroads of Epochs and Cultures» with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund, the Ministry of Culture of the Murmansk Region, the Murmansk Arctic State University, the Union of Russian Writers, the Murmansk Regional Scientific Library, the Murmansk Regional Museum of Local Lore, the Center for Social Projects of the Pecheng district «Second School», the Murmansk Children's Theater School, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Norway in Murmansk, the Kirov Recreation Center.