Sonnets exchange event

Poets from Scotland and Russia gathered to read their sonnets in English, Russian and Shetlandic and talk about transferring meaning from one language to another.

In September 2016, Scottish poets Christine De Luca, Jen Hadfield, and Stewart Sanderson visited Russia to work with poets Marina Boroditskaya, Grigory Kruzhkov, and Lev Oborin. During a residential workshop, using Shakespeare's sonnets as a stepping-off point and exploring the linguistic and cultural contexts of their poetry, the poets translated the work of their counterparts into Russian, English and Shetlandic.

In March 2017, the Scottish and Russian poets were re-united for events in Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh, shared their new poems and translations with Scottish audiences for the first time, along with their reflections on the challenges, rewards and revelations of the translation process, and how Shakespeare's Sonnets continue to enrich the poetry of today.

Attendees received a complimentary copy of a strictly limited-edition pamphlet of the poems generated by the project.