In our first poetry news round-up of the week, we bring you an article about a Vietnamese translator who has won an award for her poetry translation. We also take a look at the new Under Armour advert featuring the Olympic Athlete Lindsey Vonn, and set to a poem from Safia Elhillo.

Russian Honour Awarded to Vietnamese Literary Translator

Vietnamese born literary translator Nguyen Thuy Anh, who has lived and worked in Russia for the last 17 years has been awarded this year’s Annual Award for Literature Translation.

In a ceremony that took place in Moscow on 16^th February, Nguyen Thuy Anh was given the award, which has been running since 2015 for her work “My Olga Bertgolts”. Her work which was published in 2010 for the anniversary of the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Bertgolts, the Russian poet, was translated into Vietnamese.

The award which was set up by the Literature Foundation “Road of Life” of Saint Petersburg and the Russian Writers Association, was introduced in order to honour the work that was undertaken on the translation of Russian and foreign literature, and to help foster stronger ties between the cultures.

The award is open to all types of writing, excluding any that feature violence, drug abuse, anti-social activities and crimes.

Poetry in Advertising

The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang is really capturing people’s excitement this year, with medals being snatched from under the noses of those competitors who were the favourites, people making unexpected comebacks and competitors like Lindsey Vonn who have made triumphant returns the Olympics despite suffering setbacks in the form of injuries prior to the games.

Under Armour, the American sports brand has released a short film celebrating the American alpine ski racer. The film has been set to a poem by Safia Elhilllo a poet from the Sudan region. The film is part of the Under Armour campaign #UnlikeAny women, and the story has been used to help bring inspiration to fellow female athletes and help them to shatter people outlook on female athletes.

Elhillos poem “Kintsugi” is the perfect choice for Vonn who is rebuilding her career following her injuries – Kintsugi is the Japanese method of fixing broken pottery. In the film the poem is recited by Vonn as we see footage of her training in the mountains, she talks about her injuries and how they have played a big part in making her the athlete she is today.

Elhillo who has been writing poetry for a number of years has won a number of awards for her work, including the 2015 Brunel International African Poetry Prize, the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry in 2016. In 2017 she was nominated for the Brittle Paper Award for Poetry.

Poetry seems to be taking something of a spotlight when it comes to advertising with the recent Coca-Cola Super Bowl advertisement and big well-known brand like the Swedish Furniture company Ikea using spoken word poetry in the background to their adverts recently.