Izola

[desayunoencama]

Pleasant but exhausting day, we gave a reading this afternoon at the library in nearby Izola, with each of us reading three of our poems (more or less) in the original, and then various samples of the translations.

I was a little mistrustful of how it would turn out, aside from the rather-academic exercise of listening to the same poem in multiple languages, which I might find interesting but I didn't know what appeal it would hold for a general audience.

The whole Slovenian Littoral is very Italian-speaking, given its history, so many people actually understood my Spanish translations fairly well.

There were also two lovely Portuguese teachers who came over from Trieste, and who don't speak Slovenian, so my Spanish turned out to be one of the most comfortable languages for them, too.

The library had a copy of the Slovene edition of AMIGOS Y VECINOS which made all smiley. (The book has been out around a month or so, so it was nice to see it already on the shelves, not merely in the system.)

A few people promised to email pics from the event, so I may post some (or links to same) when I have them.

Now to go decompress and rest, tomorrow morning we pack up and head to Ljubljana, where we have a repeat performance tomorrow night.

Comments

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I've been reading your accounts of this with great interest. But, gee, how unAmerican of you to know a second language, much less fluently.

Say, are people talking about the American election? And if so, what are they saying?

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

Well, the election is occasional subject of conversation here, but not in the obsessive way it is over there, and with reason, since there is life (and other news) beyond the US and its political squabbling.

Fortunately, most of the discussions on this subject are in languages I don't speak, so I don't have to either listen to or take part in them.
:-)

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I don't expect there to be obsessive interest (having lived outside the USA myself and gained a sense of non-USA-focused perspective). I'm just curious what the reaction is to Obama, or indeed if there is one, especially given the natural disgust most of the world now has to the Bush/Cheney administration.

[erzebet.livejournal.com]

And amidst all that you still found time to wish me a happy birthday? Bless you. And thank you. :)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"The library had a copy of the Slovene edition of AMIGOS Y VECINOS which made [me] all smiley."

Indeed it must have done! Congrats on this, and on the tour as a whole.