HURRAY! IT’S THE SUMMER POETRY ISSUE! The summer poetry issue has always been an event for me. Even before I was editor of The Fiddlehead, I looked forward to its arrival. The section titles, drawn from lines within the poems, always made the issue feel like an occasion, showed how closely the editors were reading the work featured, and I got to read some of the most engaging, reorienting, challenging and/or delightful poetry written that year. I still feel this sense of occasion, and I rub imaginary hands together in my mind as I anticipate what readers will find here.
This summer, we feature a special folio dedicated to translations of Acadian poetry. These were originally published in French in our sibling publication, Ancrages. Ancrages is planning a symmetrical issue of their own featuring French translations of poems originally published in The Fiddlehead. This venture means a lot to us. We’re located in Canada’s only bilingual province, and we’re aware of the importance of bridging the divides that can separate English and French inhabitants, not to mention Mi’kmaw and Wolastoqiyik land keepers. The translation folio emerges from a pair of work-shops developed by the two journals in partnership with Fredericton’s Word Feast festival; the workshops were co-hosted by Ancrages’ Simon Brown and our own advisory editor, Jo-Anne Elder, who has been consistently bringing Fiddlehead readers translations of Acadian poetry and who selected the translations for this issue. Big thanks to all those who helped make the workshops a success and to everyone who had a hand in putting together this beauty of a summer poetry issue.
