Evan Jones : part five

Why is poetry important?

Poetry remains the artform that is both so central to our identities (mixed and mutual) and, at its best, at the same time, endlessly disconcerting. People like things to be easy. I understand this. A long day at work, kids to care for, there is too much weight on everything – the last thing someone wants is to be challenged when the day itself is a challenge. Poetry is not about comfort and positive reinforcement; it is not about making you feel better and telling you what you already know. That’s doggerel. Poetry requires effort. That sounds terrible, doesn’t it? I’m surprised anyone is interested at all. But they are. I have met them. Lovely folks, for the most part. Alive is what I’d call them.

Evan Jones : part four

When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?

Not really. I think if I needed renewal, I’d go looking for something new. I’m not the kind of poet who can go back, really, to try and think how I thought once. I like movement and development. Those poets who have settled into a voice: that’s too comfortable for me. I like listening to new and different voices. I guess I’m inconsistent that way.

Evan Jones : part three

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

I have been reading the American poet, Jack Gilbert, for a few years now. He’s wonderful. On my bedside table, I’ve got Ange Mlinko’s Marvelous Things Overheard, Norm Sibum’s Gardens of the Interregnum, Ciaran Carson’s Still Life, Layli Long Soldier’s Whereas and Manuel Vilas’ Heaven (translated by James Womack). These are all excellent books. I kind of go back and forth between them, a couple of pages of one, a couple of pages of another.

Evan Jones : part two

What poets changed the way you thought about writing?

Every one of my books has involved translation at some level, and it’s that in-depth reading that a translator does that affects my writing most. I read the same way, looking at where the verbs and nouns fall, thinking about why one adjective and not another, wondering if an adverb is even necessary. So, right now, it’s Cavafy. In the past, I’ve translated French and other Modern Greek poets, like Robert Desnos (1900-1945), Andreas Embiricos (1901-1975), and Kiki Dimoula (1931-2020). I like to think like other poets think. That’s what translation allows me. I’m not terribly interested in the self and that kind of thing. I write by reading, always.

Evan Jones : part one

Canadian poet Evan Jones has lived in Manchester, UK, since 2005. His new book is Later Emperors (Carcanet, 2020).

What are you working on?

I have just finished translating the poems of C. P. Cavafy (1863-1933), from Modern Greek, for a book that’s scheduled to be published in the autumn. So right now, not very much, which is a lovely feeling. I’m starting to think about what I might do next, and am reading De Administrando Imperio of the tenth-century Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, translated by Romilly J. H. Jenkins. I have no idea what I’ll do with this, but I love reading about it, the Pechenegs and the Zachlumi, the Russians and their long ships trading along the rivers from Constantinople.