Translating together: a live experiment

Translation is all about making choices—but what happens when those choices are made collectively, live, and in front of an audience? In this interactive translation session at Poetry International Festival, poets, translators, and audience members come together to tackle the translation of a single poem. Guided by moderator Nikki Dekker, you’ll dive into questions of meaning, sound, imagery, and cultural context. 

What decisions need to be made when creating a translation as a group? What if there’s disagreement? And can an entire poem really be translated in the span of a single session? This program offers a unique window into the creative—and often surprising—process of collaborative translation. Join in, contribute your ideas, and witness how poetry transforms as it moves into a new language. Perfect for lovers of language, collaboration, and passionate debate over a single word.

Nikki Dekker 

Nikki Dekker (1989) is a Dutch writer and radio producer. Her debut novel, diepdiepblauw (2022), received the CCS Crone Stipendium and was shortlisted for the Bronzen Uil and longlisted for the De Boon literary prize. In 2024, her second book Graafdier was published—a poetic exploration through layers of soil and memory. Dekker previously released a chapbook of essays and poetry, een voorwerp dat nog leeft (2018), and her work has appeared in various literary magazines. 

She has produced radio documentaries for NTR and VPRO, including De oppas en ik, and wrote the script for the fiction podcast series De Brandstapel. Nikki is a columnist for Vroege Vogels and an editor at the literary journal Tirade. In 2023, de Volkskrant named her one of the year’s most promising literary talents. 

Nadia Mifsud 

Nadia Mifsud is a Maltese poet, author, translator, and teacher based in France.  

Mifsud started writing poetry early on in her life. She describes it as an instinct, something that came naturally to her. She temporarily lost sight of poetry, prioritizing mastering the French language in her pursuit of moving to France, but eventually regained that connection when poetry came back to her, as she expresses it herself.  

Nadia Mifsud has published three books of poetry and one chapbook. Her second publication, Kantuniera ’l bogħod (2015), examines feminist themes such as woman- and motherhood, as well as living abroad as a Maltese person. For this collection, she was awarded the National Book Prize: Poetry in 2016, and again in 2022 for her latest book of poetry, Varjazzjonijiet tas-Skiet (2021). In 2022, she was also named Malta’s third Poet Laureate. Next to her poetry she has published a novel, Ir-rota daret dawra (kważi) sħiħa (2017) and a collection of short stories, Żifna f’xifer irdum (2021), which were shortlisted for the National Book Prize in 2018 and 2022 respectively. 

As a member of the cultural NGO Inizjamed she has been involved in the organization of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival since 2011. Among others, she has translated Immanuel Mifsud’s novel Fl-Isem tal-Missier (u tal-Iben) (French: Je t’ai vu pleur). Her own work has been translated into several languages, including English, Croatian, Polish, German, and Malayalam.

Marthe Nelissen

Marthe Nelissen (1995) is a writer, translator and circus teacher. She studied Arabistics and Islamology at KU Leuven and Arabic Literature at SOAS University of London. In 2022, Studio Sesam published her debut children's book, Donut Day. In addition to her own work as a writer, Marthe translates Arabic theater and prose into Dutch. Her translation debut came in 2019 with the translation of Mokhallad Rasem's play Diary of an Empty Bed for the Toneelhuis. Also in 2022, her first novel translation Where the wind dwells by Syrian writer Samar Yazbek was published by Orlando Publishers. 

Anna Eble

Anna Eble is an interpreter, translator, and editor of 'Terras', a magazine for international literature. She primarily translates poetry from Dutch—and occasionally from Norwegian—into German (including works by Paul van Ostaijen, Hans Faverey, Erik Lindner), and organizes festivals, workshops, and reading ateliers (including ones focused on plays) in various countries. She is the chair of the Europäisches Laboratorium, a literary institution in Germany that brings together readers and writers to reflect on how literature can help overcome borders.