Launching Origins of the Fire Emoji: Dead [Women] Poets Focus of MPT

Thanks to the phenomenal generosity of our Indiegogo supporters, this summer, Dead [Women] Poets Society guest-edited Modern Poetry in Translation with a focus on dead women poets. We are so excited to be launching this unique issue, titled Origins of the Fire Emoji 🔥 The poets featured span four millennia and several continents - you'll find poems in here that make you laugh out loud and poems that will move you deeply. The brilliant thing about MPT is that each poet is introduced by the translator, meaning that each of these dead women poets is 'resurrected' in some way. We can't wait to share the issue with you.

The issue will be released later this Autumn - but today, we're super excited to reveal its stunning cover (by our brilliant artist Lily Arnold), reveal who's in the issue, as well as share details about the launch on 30 October! Drumroll please...

Eee - we hope you love the cover as much as we do!

Launching Origins of the Fire Emoji: Focus on Dead Women Poets

Date and time: 7pm GMT 30 October 2020

Location: YouTube Live

Registration: Register your attendance to receive a reminder email on the day, with a direct link to the event. We're delighted to be able to launch this issue online! Register here (it's free!). We’ll be streaming live from MPT's YouTube channel from 7pm GMT 30 October 2020, where MPT Editor Clare Pollard will be joined remotely by Dead [Women] Poets Society's Helen Bowell and Jasmine Simms. We'll welcome Zoë Brigley, Natalie Linh Bolderston and Jessica Wood, three fierce and fiery translators featured in the focus, who will be sharing work by medieval Welsh poet Gwerful Mechain, Vietnamese poet Hồ Xuân Hương and Ancient Sumerian high priestess Enheduanna (who also happens to be the first poet whose name is recorded in all of human history - yeah, we know). This launch will work like a Dead [Women] Poets Society séance, so get ready to resurrect the spirits of the dead and hear how our translator-mediums have communed with these ghostly grandmothers over the past months. It'll be an unmissable event, so register now! We’ll also be answering your questions on the night – so please email questions in advance to webeditor@mptmagazine.com with Dead Women Poets focus online launch in the subject line. We’ll also try to respond to any comments on the livestream as they come in.

Thank you!

We want to thank everyone who shared and supported our crowdfunding campaign, and in particular Harriet Truscott who sponsored the launch. Without you all, none of this would have been possible. With your support, we're helping to right the gender imbalance of poetry published in translation. We hope you'll get the issue when it's out later this Autumn, tune into the launch and #JointheSéance.