Call for Poetry Submissions
Note: the submission deadline has been extended to 15 May 2021.
Nine times, the heaven of the light had returned to where it was at my birth, almost to the very same point of its orbit, when the glorious lady of my mind first appeared before my eyes—she whom many called Beatrice without even knowing that was her name. She had already been in this life long enough for the heaven of the fixed stars to have moved toward the east a twelfth of a degree since she was born, so that she was at the beginning of her ninth year when she appeared to me, and I saw her when I was almost at the end of my ninth. She appeared, dressed in a very stately color, a subdued and dignified crimson, girdled and adorned in a manner that was fitting for her young age.
At that time, truly, I say, the vital spirit, which dwells in the innermost chamber of the heart, started to tremble so powerfully that its disturbance reached all the way to the slightest of my pulses. And trembling it spoke these words: “Ecce deus fortior me, qui veniens dominabitur michi” (Behold, a deity stronger than I; who coming, shall rule over me).
Dante Alighieri, La Vita Nuova (Frisardi translation)
To commemorate the 700th anniversary of the death of the great Italian poet Dante Alighieri, Chameleon Press will publish a new collection of poetry in which contemporary poets from Asia interpret themes Dante’s opus with a particular focus on Beatrice, the object of Dante’s youthful love, his muse and guide. No one walks alone; Dante didn’t and pays tribute to Beatrice in La Divina Commedia. But we are first introduced to her in that work of Dante’s youth, La Vita Nuova.
The project forms part of the Italian Cultural Institute’s Dante programme for 2021 and is undertaken in collaboration with Baptist University of Hong Kong. The new anthology’s co-editors are: Tammy Ho Lai-Ming, David McKirdy and Angelo Paratico, all writers with extensive roots in the poetry and literary circles of Hong Kong, Asia and (in the case of Paratico), Italy as well. The book will be launched and presented at literary events in Hong Kong in 2021. Selected poems will also be part of a musical composition competition, again focusing on Dante, details of which will be forthcoming.
The working title of the new collection is A Dante Companion: Beatrice replies. Previous anthologies published by Chameleon Press include Quixotica: Poems East of La Mancha, published in conjunction with the Consulate General of Spain in Hong Kong and Macau as part of
“Cervantes 400” and desde Hong Kong: Poets in Conversation with Octavio Paz, part of project to raise awareness of the Mexican poet on his centenary.
Background & discussion
(NB: This document, and this section in particular, may be updated with more information. Please check back from time to time.)
Dante’s Beatrice has commonly been identified as Beatrice di Folco Portinari, believed to be the daughter of banker Folco Portinari. Dante, according to La Vita Nuova, met her only twice, once when they were both nine and again nine years later. Beatrice died, aged only twenty-fine, in 1290. Her story has inspired other artists throughout the centuries, notably the pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Beatrice is not silent in The Divine Comedy. Dante assigns many words directly to her.
The theme is meant to be interpreted broadly, but poets should take this opportunity to (re-)acquaint themselves with Dante’s work. The references at the end of the product provide links to some online resources.
In this anthology, we wish to celebrate not just Dante, but also his use of language. Dante was the first poet to write in “the vernacular”, i.e. Italian rather than Latin.
Dante’s sublime vernacular writing helped to found Italian literature... Italian (in all its dialectical variety, explicitly recognized by Dante) was the common language of everyone...
— Helen Vendler in The New Republic (see references)
Vendler goes on to describe the sound quality of Dante’s poetry, something we would like to draw poets’ attention to as regards their own submissions. The Commedia is known, among much else, for its neologisms (again, see references at the end of this document).
If possible, some reference to the original Italian (which is not in general very difficult) may be advisable given that translations can vary widely. Thus “Io mi sentì svegliar dentro a lo core”:
Io mi sentì svegliar dentro a lo core
Un spirito amoroso che dormia:
E poi vidi venir da lungi Amore
Allegro sì, che appena il conoscia,
Dicendo: “Or pensa pur di farmi onore”;
E ’n ciascuna parola sua ridia.
E poco stando meco il mio segnore,
Guardando in quella parte onde venia,
Io vidi monna Vanna e monna Bice
Venire inver lo loco là 'v’io era,
L’una appresso de l'altra miriviglia;
E sì come la mente mi ridice,
Amor mi disse: “Quell’è Primavera,
E quell’ha nome Amor, sì mi somiglia.”
Wikipedia contains a translation
I felt awoken in my heart
a loving spirit that was sleeping;
and then I saw Love coming from far away
so glad, I could just recognize.
saying “you think you can honor me”,
and with each word laughing.
And little being with me my lord,
watching the way it came from,
I saw lady Joan and lady Bice
coming towards the spot I was at,
one wonder past another wonder.
And as my mind keeps telling me,
Love said to me “She is Spring who springs first,
and that bears the name Love, who resembles me.”
Kline (see references) translates it:
I felt a stirring in my heart
of a spirit of love which slept:
and then I saw Love coming from afar
so happy, that I scarcely recognised him,
saying : ‘Now think only to honour me’:
and he was smiling at every word.
And while my lord was standing by me,
I, gazing at the road that he had come,
I, gazing at the road that he had come,
saw lady Vanna and lady Bice
approaching the place where I was,
one miracle behind the other:
and as my mind repeats it to me,
Amor said to me: ‘That lady is Primavera,
and this lady has Love’s name, so resembling me.’
And Frisardi:
I felt, awakening in my heart one day,
a lovesick spirit that had hibernated;
then I saw Love (coming from far away),
so glad, my recognition hesitated.
“Now think on how to thank me as is fit!”
he said, and each word smiled as he was talking.
And once my lord had been with me a bit,
glancing behind him, toward where he’d been walking,
I made out Lady Joan and Lady Bea,
moving along in my direction there—
one miracle behind the other came.
And as my memory repeats to me,
“The first one’s Spring,” I heard Lord Love declare,
“the second’s so like me she has my name.”
Please note that concrete or shape poems are not encouraged, nor are poems where specific spacing, fonts, or formatting (other than italics) is required.
Submission Details
Eligibility:
Poets in, from or with connections to Asia.
Submissions:
New work, never before published other than informally.
Up to three submissions are permitted.
Online electronic submissions only. Please complete the form to record entry details:
https://forms.gle/W5n9XhnnpMb8B3987
Submissions should be in WORD. Document titles should be in the following format: poet name followed by “Dante Anthology Submission”.
Documents may be submitted online using the following form
which requires a Google account/log-in. They may also be submitted by email to publisher@chameleonpress.com. Please ensure the email subject line contains “Dante Anthology Submission” (if not, it may get lost).
Please note that submissions will be evaluated on a rolling basis as submitted. Submitting as early as possible is recommended.
Timeline:
1 December 2020: Submissions open
15 May 2021: Submissions close
approx. 1 June 2021: Publication
Other terms and conditions:
Chameleon Press regrets that it is unable to confirm the disposition of each submission individually. Poets who have not received notification by 1 April should assume that they are free to offer the work for publication elsewhere.
Enquiries may be sent to publisher@chameleonpress.com
References:
Vita Nuova:
Frisardi translation: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/text/library/la-vita-nuova-frisardi/
Kline translation: https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Italian/TheNewLife.php
“Dante’s Vita Nova: Falling in love with Love” by Helen Vendler, The New Republic, 5 October 2012
https://newrepublic.com/article/108154/the-road-paradise
The Divine Comedy: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/
One of the sections that deals with Beatrice in some detail is https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/paradiso/paradiso-30/
A discussion of neologisms: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/criticism-context/scholars-works/the-cambridge-companion-to-dante/chapter-10/