AUGUSTA — Robert Nash, a mysterious figure and local poet, lived in Augusta in the 1980s and disappeared into the Maine woods in 1995. His body was never found, but in 2016 a suitcase of his poems was discovered in a basement in France.
Join Seattle poet Francoise Canter at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 6, for a reading and discussion of her book, “Maine,” an interpretation and translation of the rediscovered poems, touching on themes of the Maine woods, the Atlantic coast, life, death and fatherhood.
The poems found in France were written in French, and Canter was approached for the work of translating them into English. She said translating the poems was an intense and absorbing process that not only bonded her to the writer, but also caused new aspects to emerge from the poems.
Canter said, “What interests me is the poetry that emerges between the two languages during translation — a poetry that is created by translation … A translation is not just a translation, it is a rendition.”
One of Nash’s poems begins, “This morning in Augusta’s streets / I feel far from home.”
As with all of Lithgow’s events, it is free and open to the public.
Lithgow Library is at 45 Winthrop St. For more information, call 207-626-2415 or visit www.lithgowlibrary.org.
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