Biography of Badal Ravo; an interpreter who exports local poetry to the East

 

 He who translates poetry must be a poet himself, since a poet alone has the ability to transfer the spirit of poetry from one language to another. This is what the Iraqi journalist and poet Badal Ravo told us passionately in the course of his talk about his new book (Anthology of Austria poets) which includes works translated into Arabic for seventy-three Austrian poets in an attempt to introduce these poets and their poetry to Eastern communities.

Badal Ravo resides in Graz since 1992 and has already worked in radio and television in Iraq, and he now continues to feed the Arab and Kurdish media poetry texts translated from Austrian poetry.

 

47 years old Ravo, is a member of the Federal writers and journalists of Graz and Iraq, therefore, he regards himself as a link between Graz and the Arab world.

Having issued six books, he wanted through this new book to offer something for his second homeland, Austria, which as he says ((gave me security and freedom)).

In connection with the anthology we find that Ravo has included a selection of Sonia Hartr and Micah Marcart's poetry,alongside that of Austrian poets such as Angiburk Bachmann, Peter Turin, and Eric Fred. On the other hand, Ernest Iandl's poetry proved difficult to translate, as well as that of Peter Ruzicka whose tone beholds and essence he found impossible to transfer into his mother tongue particularly in terms such as (I geh hoam) which has no equivalent in Arabic.

The book has received wide acceptance in Arabic and Kurdish milieu, to the extent that one Kurdish poet said a few days ago:

Ravo has strongly influenced us through this book transforming the conflicting concepts we hold of Austria, saying, "Before this book was issued, we knew nothing of Austria other than what reached us through gun pipes until Ravo came to us with mortars of the safe Austrian heritage".