“A single haiku by Tomizawa Kakio (1902-1962) given in rōmaji transliteration with two differing translations and notes by Harry Gilonis
The translations explore alternative ways to interpret the Japanese word ari. There is a possible homophonic pun, as ari, while meaning ‘ant’, can also mean ‘existing at the present moment’; existence’. Small black type evokes the tiny ant across the pages.
Amongst Harry Gilonis’s earliest publications, back in the 1980s, were translations from the Japanese published in Haiku Quarterly; translated haiku are embedded in poems from the 1990s; in 2021 he published seasonal words (Coracle), a hundred haiku in translation covering six centuries of Japanese writing. His interest continues in these two very different publications from essence press in Edinburgh.”
Two concertinas (7 x 6,5 cm closed / 38 cm open) in a black envelope (11 x 11 cm), one concertina features the transliteration on one side and an explanatory text on the other, the second concertina features two possible translations, one on each side, making clever use of the concertina format to explore ways to translate double meaning or wordplay in poetry
(Edinburgh) 2023
