Is it possible to write poetry in a second language?

There are many writers who write in a second or third language. You can check online forums and blogs to discuss which is easier to write poetry or prose in a non-native language. Both have good arguments.

As far as translation is concerned, it is generally recommended to translate into one's own mother tongue, but there are also many excellent poetry translations that follow the opposite model, that is, from one's own mother tongue. Historically, poems were usually written in the literary languages of the time (Arabic, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit), in multilingual forms (see the works of kabir, a poet in the 65438+5th century) or in various languages (poems in a second language).

But I think your question has something to do with a more modern era. Here are some examples to illustrate that this is indeed possible: perhaps the most famous non-native poet is Kahlil Gibran (1883- 193 1), a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist. His most famous work is The Daily Prophet (1923), which has been one of the best sellers and has been translated into more than 100 languages.

Ji Bolun's native language is Arabic, and his second language may be French. We know that Ji Bolun had difficulty writing in English at first, so it was not a natural thing (the prophet's motivation). Incidentally, I have been asked many times to write Ji Bolun's poems in "primitive" Arabic. His poems do have Arabic versions, but only translated versions.

Jack Kerouac (1922- 1969) is another famous poet who writes in a second language. In fact, he is such a famous "Beat Generation" writer and poet that most people don't know that although he grew up in New England, his family speaks French. Jack's family is French Canadian, and his name is Jean-Louis Lesbriz de Kerouac. (Jack Kerouac-Wikipedia)

Sri Alberto (1872- 1950) wrote many poems and philosophies. Although his native language is Bengali, he was sent to England for education at the age of seven. Maybe it's not surprising that he writes in English.

Not all members of the British royal family write in English, even if they boldly write in languages other than their mother tongue. Ahmed Reza Khan (1856- 192 1), an Islamic jurist and Sufi poet, wrote in South Asia during the British colonial period. He writes in Arabic, Persian and Urdu, although his native language is Pashto.

Josif Aleksandrovich Brodsky1972 immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union; 15 later, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature for a large number of Russian and English poems and essays. 1986' s poetry collection "Less than One Book" won the American Book Criticism Circle Award of 1986, and 199 1' s poetry collection "Part of the Speech" was also cited by the American Poet Laureate of 65438- 1992. (Multilingual writer: a writer who writes in a second language-airship)

Born in South Korea, Cui Dongmei is a contemporary award-winning poet who writes in English. (Tang Meicui-Wikipedia) Ha Jin (born in 1956), a native of Harbin, China, immigrated to the United States after suppressing the party. For political reasons, he chose to write in English. His poems and essays have won a series of awards, which will be listed here. To see his awards and more information, please check out Harkin-Wikipedia.

Most of my stories are about poets who write in English, but writing in languages other than their mother tongue is not limited to English.

Shahril writes in Turkish and Persian. (Mohammed Hussein Charillat-Wikipedia)

y！ Takada wrote in Germany and Japan.

Stefan Timmerson writes in at least three languages: Polish, French and English.

This compilation represents only a few famous poets who write in languages other than their mother tongue.

By the way, I want to go back to the Renaissance, not a poet, but Michel Acomb de Montaigne (1533- 1592), who is a famous French advocate of this article.

Montaigne was educated by his father at home when he was very young. His educational philosophy includes creating a pampered atmosphere full of gentle encouragement, using only Latin, which is still the international language of educated people. Therefore, the boy didn't start learning French until he was six years old. "

To this day, I will meet some people who think Montaigne's articles are written in Latin. Although Montaigne's parents tried their best to cultivate a native speaker of Latin, and even hired only Latin-speaking service personnel (Michel de Montaigne), Montaigne wrote mainly (if not completely) in French.