Welcome to this Tumblr in which to find poems written in some of the smaller languages of Europe, in tongues that are so often confined to their native speakers and which rarely receive any kind of attention from the forces which dominate such a great part of the cultural scene in Europe today. There is a wealth of magnificent poetry being written, published and read in the smaller languages of Europe today. From Frisia to the Faroes, from Euskal Herria to Estonia, from Wales to Galicia, poets are still facing the world in the languages of their forefathers. This Tumblr has been created out of a wish to give greater visibility to poets using languages which are often left outside the dominant cultural mapping of literary consumption in Europe today. It is our attention to publish these poems in their original format. We recognize the problems we face with the larger languages – almost without thinking they are often used as the only means of mediation between our diverse tongues – the proof in the pudding, as it were, is the fact that I am writing this introduction in English. We believe that readers will enjoy the sonic – and visual - qualities of the works in the original language, and it is our hope that these poems will encourage readers to participate in translations to and from our small languages. Welsh verse translates wonderfully into Galician, Basque into Frisian, Irish into Catalan and so forth. For this first pilot edition we have ourselves selected poems in a random fashion. For future editions an editorial board will look towards greater cohesion with themed issues which, we hope, will reflect the shifting concerns of the poets of small-language Europe. We would be delighted to hear from anyone who is interested in participating in this challenging but exhilarating project.
David Clark University of A Coruña