We would like to extend our congratulations to Eleanor (Year 13) on her recent success in two competitions – the Prismatic Jane Eyre translation competition and the German Language Competition 2022.
Run by the University of Oxford and the Stephen Spender Trust, the Prismatic Jane Eyre translation competition challenged entrants to produce a poem in another language, along with a literal translation into English, inspired by a selected passage from Jane Eyre. The initiative was launched as a celebration of all languages taught and spoken across the UK. We’re delighted to announce that Eleanor’s poem will be published in a printed and online anthology, along with a selection of other entries.
From Eleanor:
‘I loved the creativity involved in the competition task. Reading the passage, I could take my very own angle on the passage from Jane Eyre, reimagining the passage as it were. Writing the poem in German involved taking a completely different approach than I am taking in my creative writing in English. Translating my poem into English afterwards was fascinating as the result was completely different from what I would have written, had I written it in English in the first place. The Prismatic Jane Eyre Project is a fantastic initiative and I’m really looking forward to seeing the printed anthology which will feature poems in so many languages.’
As if this wasn’t enough, Eleanor has also achieved success in the German Language Competition 2022, run by DAAD London and the Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London.
The focus of the competition was on coming together, celebrating friendship and collaboration between people, countries and institutions beyond borders and across cultures.
Eleanor submitted a poem, Unser Shakepeare, which researched the notion that the Germans have always considered Shakespeare as one of their own. Written from Shakespeare’s perspective, the poem was a celebration of Anglo-German friendship.
Eleanor’s entry is one of the top three in her age group and will be presented during a festival of language, colour and togetherness at the German Embassy in London on 20 October.
Here, you can read Eleanor’s winning poem –
Unser Shakespeare
Ich wurde Deutscher sogar ohne Einbürgerung.
Im Sturm und Drang brauchte mich die Revolte,
‘Er aber sags ihm, er kann mich im Arsche lecken’
Nein, das ging doch zu weit – selbst Goethe musste das umschreiben.
‚Deutschland ist Hamlet‘: Eine Revolution zum Scheitern verdammt.
Doch dann bin ich aus Ruinen auferstanden –
Hamlet ein Vorbild der Jugend –
während ich drüben die Wahrheit der Väter suchte.
Brexit:
Fast ein Thema für mich:
Tragödie- Komödie- Historie
Aber die Treue, sie ist noch immer ‘kein leerer Wahn
Und zu ‚’Europas Dioskuren’
Gesellt sich noch immer, im Bunde der Dritte,
Der Brite.
(in geistiger Zusammenarbeit mit Goethe, Freiligrath, Schiller, von Dingelstedt)
Congratulations on these phenomenal achievements, Eleanor!