8 Poetry Collections in Translation to Read in 2022

2022 has been a banner year for poetry, bringing us new translations of Rumi, Antonio Gamoneda, and Forough Farrokhzad, to name a few. Below, we recap the highlights of the year so far and recommend exciting new releases to look forward to in the coming months.

1. It Must Be a Misunderstanding by Coral Bracho, translated from Spanish by Forrest Gander

Mexican poet Coral Bracho traces the trajectory of her late mother’s Alzheimer’s disease in this moving collection from New Directions, translated by Pulitzer Prize winner Forrest Gander.

2. Glory Hole by Kim Hyun, translated from Korean by Suhyun J. Ahn and Archana Madhavan

Translated by Suhyun J. Ahn and Archana Madhavan, Kim Hyun’s genre-defying collection blends pop culture with the fantastic and lyricism with the nonsensical to explore the experience of queer love.

3. You Can Be the Last Leaf by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah

In Palestinian poet Maya Abu Al-Hayyat’s collection, the looming dangers of Israeli occupation permeate images of daily life. You Can Be the Last Leaf is out now from Milkweed Editions in Fady Joudah’s translation.

4. Cold Fire by Verónica Zondek, translated from Spanish by Katherine Silver

Cold Fire is a book-length paean to the wind and an exploration of the relationship between humans and the natural world. Chilean poet Verónica Zondek makes her English-language debut in this translation by Katherine Silver, published by World Poetry Books.

5. Initial Coordinates by Monika Herceg, translated from Croatian by Marina Veverec

In Initial Coordinates, translated by Marina Veverec, poet Monika Herceg explores family lore and memories of her childhood in wartime Croatia.

6. A Summer Day in the Company of Ghosts by Wang Yin, translated from Chinese by Andrea Lingenfelter

Forthcoming from New York Review of Books in August, this bilingual collection traces Wang Yin’s long and prolific career as an avant-garde poet. Early work from the 1980s appears alongside more recent poems, all translated by Andrea Lingenfelter.

7. Time Stitches by Eleni Kafala, translated from Greek by Peter Constantine

Cypriot poet Eleni Kafala pulls together a chorus of historical voices that span centuries in this bilingual collection. Time Stitches is translated by Peter Constantine and forthcoming from Deep Vellum in September.

8. No Way in the Skin without This Bloody Embrace by Jean D’Amérique, translated from French by Conor Bracken

In this book-length poem, Haitian poet Jean D’Amérique digs into the devastation of colonialism and environmental disaster and reveals the resilience underneath. No Way in the Skin without This Bloody Embrace is forthcoming from Ugly Duckling Press this fall in Conor Bracken’s translation.