And here are the books...
Bridges / Brécken
Language shapes the way we think. Being an avid language learner, I have found this adage to be definitely true. Strangely enough, I'm a more positive person when I muse about the world in English than when I let my thoughts roam in Luxembourgish. I believe that thinking in different languages not only expands our view of the world, but also changes the perception we have of ourselves. The exercise of translating a work of art into another language creates a bridge to a new culture, spanning the gulf of prejudice and the chasm of ignorance. It awakens new emotions and shows us novel ways of tackling this amazing journey that is Life. The series Bridges presents authors to a new public, it dresses them in clothes very similar to their own, but using a different, exotic kind of cloth.
Eppes Besseres / Something Better
Henry Lawson: Eppes Besseres / Something Better. Bilingual edition. Luxembourgish translation and commentary by Sandra Schmit. Strassen: Éditions Sarya, 2022. ISBN 978-99987-898-0-7. 125 pages.
This bilingual collection comprises fourteen poems by Australia's most renowned bush poet Henry Lawson (1867-1922). Songs about the lonely life in the Outback, odes to friendship, loyality and liberty and a boisterous toast to the stubborn will to make this life a most amazing and memorable ride. One hundred years after his death, Henry Lawson is definitely a writer that abides.
To hear the poems recited in Luxembourgish, visit this page.
Soon to come...
Roads / Weeër
All roads lead to some place - eventually. But often it's the unexpected detours, the annoyingly slow and unpaved byways that carry us to the most memorable places, people and events. Here's to the potholed mountain road in Northern Romania, the dusty streetworks just a few kilometers before the Albanian border and the kind hotel managers whose suggestions led two unsuspecting travellers to a Buddhist temple in middle-of-nowhere Sweden and to the huge and never-before-heard-of walls of ancient Midas Şehri. The series Roads will, I hope, let the reader experience the same awe and amazement I have felt so many times, standing alone in this desolate space, somewhere in time. The first book in this series will probably recount my travels through Turkey. I'll keep you posted.