{"id":1763,"date":"2025-10-24T12:38:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/?p=1763"},"modified":"2025-10-28T13:27:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T17:27:56","slug":"an-interview-with-paula-j-lambert-juan-rojas-on-translation-collaboration-and-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/an-interview-with-paula-j-lambert-juan-rojas-on-translation-collaboration-and-community\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with Paula J. Lambert & Juan Rojas: On Translation, Collaboration, and Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With Winter Wheat just around the corner, we asked our guest readers, Paula J. Lambert and Juan Rojas about their work, what they will be reading, and about their Winter Wheat experiences to share with our readers and participants.

Lambert and Rojas were asked to respond to the following questions via email and what follows is their written descriptions depicting the beautiful working relationship they have developed to produce their works of translation and the importance of their communication and understanding of each other.


Can you share with us a little bit about what you will be reading?\u202f <\/strong>

Paula & Juan: <\/strong>We\u2019ll be reading poems excerpted from Juan\u2019s full manuscript El camino que lleva nuestros nombres \/ The Path that Carries Our Names<\/em> in the original Spanish and the translated English. The last section, as you know, was published in MAR as a featured translation chapbook, so we expect to finish the reading with that last section of the book in full. We also look forward to discussing the translation process itself, as time allows\u2014how it unfolds, and the key elements that shape it.
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Your work is a work in translation. Can you speak to the process of translation?<\/strong>\u202f

Paula:<\/strong> <\/em>For us, the work was as much a process of editing as it was translation, as Juan came to me when he\u2019d finished the first draft of the manuscript, and the poems needed quite a lot of work. I\u2019m a very good editor, and many of the poems that were quite long and rather confusing were edited down to something far more concise. Additionally, some of the poems had already been translated to English by another poet who was not a native English speaker, and though that should have made things easier for me (I actually don\u2019t speak or read Spanish) it actually made some things more difficult, as we had to sort out what was problematic from the original words Juan wrote and what may have been a problem with an inaccuracy in the first translation. So, ours was a sitting-side-by-side process, with me asking him over and over, \u201cIs this what you really mean? Is this what you intended?\u201d Sometimes that led to him realizing the drafted poem was not very clear, and sometimes it meant there was something in the language or the cultural references that I was not yet understanding. And of course once we got through all the individual poems, all translated fully and clearly into English so that I had a much clearer understanding of the overall story being told, we had to take a look at how the poems were working together\u2014where there were redundancies, for example, or how some parallels needed to be highlighted.

Juan:<\/strong> <\/em>The translation process involved four essential elements: excellent communication\u2014between poet and poet, poet and editor, and poet and translator; a willingness to explore new creative possibilities; trust in our instincts and in the original poetic essence; and the courage to embrace transformation.

For me, it was crucial to truly listen to Paula\u2014not only as a translator, but also as a poet and editor in her own right. I wanted to ensure that what I originally intended to \u201cchant\u201d could be creatively reimagined through translation. After all, every translation is its own new creation.

I made a point to reflect on the changes Paula suggested\u2014not simply agreeing or disagreeing but engaging in meaningful discussion. Dialogue has been essential throughout\u2014before, during, and even after the translation of the manuscript\u2014especially as we\u2019ve shared this work together in multiple conferences and literary festivals.
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How did you come to collaborate and what was that process like collaborating? <\/strong>

Paula: <\/strong>We\u2019ve been friends and colleagues for many years. I\u2019m not honestly sure where we first met, but I\u2019d heard him read on the local poetry scene and, as I was hosting Peripatetic Poets here in Columbus and a show called \u201cCelebrating the Night Sky\u201d at Perkins Observatory in Delaware, I invited him to read. When he read at the observatory, he brought his two children, very young at the time, who played \u201cTwinkle Twinkle Little Star\u201d on the violin as he read his poems over their music. It was magical. When that event evolved into the Sun & Moon Poetry Festival, I invited him to take part in the Haiku Death Match. It was fascinating watching audiences respond to his performances. People literally swooned over his tiny, powerful poems. So, I invited him to do a little chapbook for Full\/Crescent press, and that turned into De ca\u00f1a de ma\u00edz y miel: 12 haikus de Ohio \/ On Cornstalks and Honey: 12 Ohio Haiku<\/em>. Haiku are very hard to write, and the original poems he gave me needed a lot of work, so the process was similar. \u201cIs this really what you mean? Why did you use this image?\u201d And so on. I was not yet his translator, but we found through that process that we worked very, very well together as poet and editor. It turned into a gorgeous little pocket-sized, hand-stitched chapbook with a cover that was just beautiful. And it sold out almost immediately. When he found himself in need of a new translator a few years ago, he told me he had a new manuscript and asked if I might like to try working together on that, to ensure the work was solid in both languages. And here we are. We\u2019re co-workers and friends, able to be very honest with one another. I\u2019m able to tell him when something is not working\u2014and of course, when it\u2019s working incredibly, beautifully well. He\u2019s able to tell me that something needs to be a certain way and can\u2019t be changed. It\u2019s very give and take and very rewarding for both of us.

Juan: <\/strong>My collaboration with Paula has developed alongside our friendship. Not long ago, translation was often limited to the works of deceased authors. Today, the translation of contemporary poetry is increasingly common\u2014and vital. Many poets now see their work published in multiple languages and take part in international festivals, a trend that reflects the global reach of poetry.

When a poem is translated, the process depends greatly on the poet\u2019s involvement. If you know the language, you work closely with the translator. If not, you trust that the translator will remain faithful to your voice and vision. I feel very fortunate that Paula and I have spent countless hours together on this project\u2014reviewing, discussing, and fine-tuning every line until we both felt completely satisfied.

I always know when Paula is truly moved by a poem\u2014she gets goosebumps. That\u2019s when I know we\u2019ve done something right.

Paula: <\/strong>(Yeah, that goosebump part is absolutely true.)
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As past participants, how does it feel to be coming to\u202fWinter\u202fWheat\u202fas a reader this year? How might that experience feel different for you? <\/strong>

Paula: <\/strong>Well, I can say for myself that I\u2019m thrilled, as I last read in Prout Chapel as an MFA student in 1995 and 1996. I was focused on fiction at the time and read both years with poet Tania Runyan, who is still a close friend. So to come back as an invited guest reader, and as a poet, and as part of a translation project, is deeply meaningful. It\u2019s an honor to have been invited back to read, and it\u2019s humbling to think of all the ways my work as a writer has changed in nearly 30 years!

Juan: <\/strong>It\u2019s an honor\u2014one I will always cherish\u2014to have been invited to Winter Wheat. It\u2019s a meaningful opportunity to engage with both regional and national writers, to learn from their work, and to share my own.

As a poet who writes primarily in Spanish, my mother tongue, I\u2019m aware that language can sometimes limit access to new readers. But translation changes that. It opens doors, allowing English-speaking readers to connect with and appreciate my poetry.

I was genuinely thrilled to learn I\u2019d been invited as a guest reader, alongside my friend, poet, and translator Paula J. Lambert. It feels like a living testament to the idea that poetry\u2014shared across borders and languages\u2014can make the world a better place.

Winter Wheat offers a moment to connect with other poets, to explore new paths, and to feel welcomed by the vibrant Ohio poetry community.


Can you speak to your experiences at\u202fWinter\u202fWheat? What have you encountered\/experienced? What has kept you returning?\u202f
<\/strong>
Paula: <\/strong>I\u2019ve heard so many extraordinary writers at Winter Wheat! Tyehimba Jess was a favorite, when Leadbelly was brand-new. That was a favorite poetry collection for so many years. Carl Phillips was just lovely, as was Camille Dungy. Allison Joseph\u2026so many great writers and readers. For a while, several years after I graduated from the program, I came back to BGSU to teach, so it was easy to attend, and it always felt like a reunion of sorts, as many former students and faculty would come to town for it. In recent years, I\u2019ve tried to come up more often again and though I recognize fewer attendees each time, it\u2019s always great to meet new people, and it\u2019s interesting to see what the current MFA students especially are interested in and wanting to teach. And of course it\u2019s been a chance to think through whatever new project I\u2019m working on, as when Juan and I together taught a workshop on the long poem. At the time, I was writing very, very long poems, and Juan and I had just started working on his manuscript, which is made up of short poems but together tell a single, long story. Teaching is always a wonderful discovery process as, if you\u2019re going about it right, it makes you think hard, in explaining to someone else, about what exactly you\u2019re doing and why. And of course you learn so much from your students in the questions they ask and what they share of the projects they\u2019re working on. I think all writing, ultimately, and even all teaching, is at its core collaborative. It\u2019s a discovery process for everyone.

Juan: <\/strong>Paula and I first participated in Winter Wheat two years ago. At that time, we presented some of our initial translations and reflected on the fresh, unfolding experience of co-creation. It is a true joy to return as invited guests\u2014to share what has happened since, how the manuscript has evolved, and what we envision for the future of\u202fEl camino que lleva nuestros nombres \/ The Path that Carries Our Names<\/em>.

Winter Wheat has become, for us, a kind of homecoming\u2014a return to the wellspring of language and creative energy. Like going back to the well to draw water, we return in search of poetry\u2014expecting it, welcoming it, dreaming it.

There\u2019s a poem in the manuscript that speaks to this feeling:

“Wandering my Dreams, I Find Direction”<\/strong>

We\u2019ll drink water from the well.

We\u2019ll meditate.

We\u2019ll meditate within these dreams,

\u202f \u202f \u202funraveling mysteries not yet revealed.



Paula J. Lambert and Juan Rojas\u2019 translation chapbook, The Path that Carries Our Names<\/em>, a collection of poetry written by Rojas translated from Spanish by Lambert, was published in the most recent issue of The Mid-American Review. Rojas is a Mexican-American transborder poet, essayist, and scholar. \u202fHe currently serves as the President of the Hispanic Ohio Writers Association. Lambert is an alumna of Bowling Green\u2019s MFA program and author of five full-length poetry collections. Lambert\u202fowns Full\/Crescent Press, a small publisher of poetry books and broadsides, through which she has founded and supported numerous public readings and festivals that support the intersection of poetry and science. You can read our guest readers\u2019 full bios here<\/a>.

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