Group translation exercise an act of cross-cultural and creative unity
Selina Tusitala Marsh, ‘Unity’
Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh is an Auckland-based Pacific poet and scholar of Samoan, Tuvaluan, English, Scottish, and French descent. As this year’s Commonwealth Poet, she was commissioned to write a poem for the Queen. The poem is titled ‘Unity’ and Dr Marsh recited it for Her Majesty at Westminster Abbey on March 14 at the Commonwealth Day Observance. Students of ITAL 315 have translated the poem into Italian as an in-class group exercise. “It is an utterly beautiful, engaging, and moving poem,” says Dr Marco Sonzogni, Senior Lecturer in Italian, “its language is crystal-clear and its message is direct, and yet the poem is so layered, deep, powerful”.
Students have embraced the challenge with enthusiasm and competence. Working in small groups, each student has contributed a part to the poem’s unity. “It was wonderful to watch them re-write the poem in Italian in their weekly learning space and time, individually and collectively – an exchange and a responsibility at the heart of Dr Marsh’s poem as well as of the translation process. They have done a terrific job”, says Dr Sonzogni, “but one thing still needs fine-tuning… the title!”. Dr Sonzogni recently visited Selina on Waiheke Island to discuss a project that reflects the cross-cultural, creative, and connecting experience of literary translation.