WISP by Jan Wagner: An Event with Translator David Keplinger

A chance to hear some beautiful poetry on a Friday night, you’re invited to hear from David Keplinger’s new translation of Jan Wagner’s poems from German, titled WISP. It’s a gorgeous dual-language book examining impermanence as the source of beauty.

Over the course of a partnership spanning nearly two decades, poets Jan Wagner and David Keplinger have crafted a distinctly collaborative exchange between original German and American letters. Together, they muse at the constraints of translation, challenging its boundaries while weaving their distinct voices in lyrical call and response. They marvel at what translation can be: a tempered conversation in metered rhyme.

Come enjoy this translation at Bird in Hand and let it shift your perception of how close observation can cross language.