Paul van Ostaijen was an avant-garde poet, writer, reviewer and critic. His book Occupied City was published in 1921 and has recently been translated by David Colmer. Paul van Ostaijen was the first writer to translate Kafka from German and took influence from the Dada art movement of the time. Since his death his work has gone mainly unnoticed. This however does not include Dutch speaking territories, where Occupied City is regarded as a classic. Australian translator David Colmer is in conversation with Daniel Hahn at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to discuss the mammoth and unconventional task of adapting a Dadaist poetry book from Dutch into English.
Occupied City was written in Berlin and focuses on the occupation of Antwerp during the First World War. Initially it had a small print run and sold very few copies. Ostaijen died at the young age of 32 and the book was never reprinted during his lifetime. During the event Colmer talks eloquently about the life of Paul van Ostaijen. The translator clearly loved the writing of the artist and found the translation a labour of love. David Colmer reads from the book. This is a difficult task considering Occupied City relies so heavily on typography, which does not lend itself to the spoken word. Sous Le Pont De Paris is the most conventional poem in the collection and Colmer wisely reads this text while images from the book are projected on a screen behind him. On this screen the pages looke expansive and the audience clearly see the marriage between the spoken word and the text. This gives the poetry an extra presence and emphasises the horrendous and dark themes of Occupied City.
Paul van Ostaijen is a fascinating writer and the fact that his work has now been translated into English will hopefully open up his fantastic writing to a new audience. Occupied City is published by Smokestack Books and is available now.
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