Fourth Year pupil Vishal Saha has been commended in the 14 and under age group category of the 2020 Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation.
The competition, run in association with The Guardian, celebrates poetry in all its forms and genres and requires entrants to translate a poem from any language, ancient or modern, into English. The 2020 competition saw a record number of entries and submitted languages.
Vishal chose to translate When We Were Kids (Cuando éramos niños) by Mario Benedetti from Uruguayan Spanish into English, and was congratulated by the judges who praised Vishal’s translation for containing profundity in deceptively simple language.
Spanish teacher Mr Sam Gordon congratulated Vishal on his success:
Vishal thoroughly deserves the commendation he received from the judges. His English translation showed enormous skill and sensitivity. Vishal thought very carefully about the structure, rhythm and sound effects of the Spanish, and rendered them faithfully and subtly in his English version. This achievement showcases not just his ability as a Hispanist, but also his gift for creative writing in English.
We hope that Vishal’s success will inspire other Hamptonians to enter the competition in 2021.
You can read Vishal’s superb translation along with the other 2020 Stephen Spender competition winners below:
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