University of Birmingham School students and teacher win poetry translation awards

We were delighted to learn that a University of Birmingham Sixth Form student, Ana, was one of three winners nationally in the Schools Laureate Post-16 category in the 2024 Stephen Spender Prize translation competition. Ana translated a poem from Romanian, ‘Rondelul rozelor ce mor’, by Alexandru Macedonski. The title of Ana’s translation is ‘Rondel of the Dying Roses’. Another student, Rithicka, received a special commendation in the Lower School category.

Mrs L. Holleran, University of Birmingham School Subject Lead for Languages, received an Outstanding Teacher Commendation for her work on translation and that of the department of Modern Foreign Languages.

Mrs Holleran explained that students were inspired to submit their work for the competition after taking part in poetry translation workshops offered by the Stephen Spender Trust in the autumn of 2023. The workshops were funded by a University of Birmingham Impact Acceleration Award led by Dr Emma Wagstaff, Associate Professor in the University of Birmingham Department of Modern Languages. Dr Wagstaff also chose poems to be included in a booklet of French poetry which is now a translation resource on the Stephen Spender Trust website. Some of the poems were paired with artworks to explore the relationship between texts and images.

Dr Wagstaff said: ‘Translation as a creative activity helps bring language learning to life and I was so pleased to hear that the students enjoyed the workshops and that some chose to enter the competition. It was wonderful to work with the Stephen Spender Trust and with the dedicated staff at University of Birmingham School.’

We congratulate Mrs Holleran and the students from University of Birmingham School on this fantastic achievement and wish them well as they continue to explore poetry and translation.