Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I have read the exchange of letters between Joseph Bednarik and Marilyn Chin with some sadness. It is a painful thing to have happen at a time when communication around the project of translating from Asian languages needs all the openness and good-hearted exchange it can inspire. Copper Canyon has a rich legacy, and I have faith that proper redress will be made to Chin for what I hope was a moment of glibness that went a little too far.
I find Chin’s translations not only immensely readable but informative as well. Her translator’s note is impassioned and evidence of someone with a string of credentials, for sure, but, more importantly, also a vested interest in the life of poets doing battle with patriarchy.
My hat is off to the editors of Poetry for giving space to such a difficult exchange.
Afaa Michael Weaver was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where he attended public schools. After two years of study at the University of Maryland-College Park, he later earned his BA at Regents College-University of the State of New York (now Excelsior College) and completed graduate work in creative writing at Brown University, where his focus was playwriting and theater.
Weaver’s early poetry...