THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Selected poems of Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri - English translation of some of the works by the noted poet - translated by P K N Panicker, will be released in the state capital on Sunday. Poet V Madhusoodanan Nair will release the book by handing it over to poet Prabha Varma, at a function to be held at Bharath Bhavan, Thycadu, at 6 pm.
Brought out by the Authors Press in Delhi, the book has English translations of 31 poems by Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri, in addition to his two essays on ‘Vivekanandan and contemporary America’ and ‘the Cave of Emerson’.
Some of the translated works in the book include ‘Mathruchumbanam’ (A Divine Kiss), ‘Onnumariyathavan’ (One Who Knows Nothing), ‘Maranamurakal’ (Faces of Death) and ‘Vanarodanam’ (Lament of the Forest), ‘Aagolavisesham’ (Globalisation), ‘Karakausalam’ (The Master Craftsman), ‘Oranthi Koodi’ (Yet Another Sunset), ‘Oru Charamakuripp’ (An Epitaph), ‘Rithukkal’ (A Love Song), ‘Pinnil Oral’(Some One Behind), ‘Tharavattu Puranam’ (An Ancestral Family Legend) and ‘Balyakala Sakhi’ (My Childhood Friend).
The translations were done by P K N Panicker. He has earlier translated the works of well-known poets Vyloppilly Sreedharan Menon, P Kunhiraman Nair, Akkitham Achuthan Nampoothiri and A Ayyappan. “My translated works are not transcreations. However, I have tried to maintain the spirit and core of each poem in the translation,” said Panicker.