RantWoman is not a huge consumer of poetry. In fact, Russian poet Bella Akhmadulina is high on RantWoman's mean to read more of list. RantWoman now wishes she had gotten around to it while Ms. Akhmadulina was still alive and regretfully commends the following obituaries:
RantWoman also has a funny story from a long ago interpreter gig. RantWoman does not remember what event it was but has the impression it was one of the citizen exchange gigs she did while in grad school to sharpen her interpreting teeth and find her nerve.
There were several guests from different places in the former Soviet Union and each had an interpreter assigned. We took turns at some platform interpreting for large groups and hung out together on breaks. Standing up before a large crowd of strangers and turning words from one language into another requires a certain amount of nerve no matter what.
Some interpreters are, well, kind of cowboys about who they have worked with and under what circumstances. One time when were all standing around puffing our chests during a break, one of the interpreters bragged of working with Akhmadulina. Several of the other interpreters mumbled things like "Oh, WOW!" One or two demured. RantWoman, ever inclined to spare others' ego, was thinking that the guy must be crazy to take on a poet without preparation and just blurted out: "Akhmadulina is impossible to interpret." Jidging by the laughter, others agreed. The world is unquestionably poorer without her.
Interpreting on the fly for poets is almost always a fool's errand.
Interpreting on the fly for poets is almost always a fool's errand.
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