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The poems below are featured in Canadian Poetry Review #40, a special translation issue. Poetry copyright © the authors.

Daphnée Azoulay ~ Cristina Flores ~ Niki Lambros ~ Jill Varley

Daphnée Azoulay

Destination soudaine
Je soulève les cartes
S’il faut décrire les devoirs
Les mèches et le parfum
La vaisselle et les premiers pas
En quoi regarder s’étendre
L’univers d’obscurité

Daphnée Azoulay, born in Montreal in 1983, published her first book, Tout près de la nuit, in 2005. Marbre (2014) and Le pays volant (2018) followed. A student at Stanford University in California, she is an environmentalist. The poem is from Marbre (Les Herbes rouges, 2014). ~ back to top

Cristina Flores

My sudden purpose
I gaze at the cards
Imagine my duties
Locks of hair and baby’s breath
Washing dishes and first steps
Where am I
At the very end

Cristina Flores is a Concordia University graduate. She received her BA in Women’s Studies in 2004 where she was the recipient of the Thérèse Casgrain medal for Women’s Studies. In 2016, she completed the Professional Masters in Translation Studies. As a mother of two, she spends her time reading, cooking, and improving upon her crafts as translator and jewelry designer. Her professional goal is to pursue a career as a freelance translator and reviser. What interests her most is children’s literature, particularly with strong feminist and educational messaging. ~ back to top

Niki Lambros

Sudden destination
I grab the maps
If we must describe our duties
The highlights and the scent
The dishes and the first steps
How to view the extent
Of a dark universe

Niki Lambros is a writer, editor, translator, and English language/literature teacher, now established in Canada after almost two decades in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. She completed her second Master’s degree (English, Creative Writing, Poetry) at Concordia University, Montreal in May 2015 and is has begun a PhD in Humanities at Concordia. ~ back to top

Jill Varley

Sudden destination
I jack up the maps
Duties must be depicted
The fuses and the perfume
The washing up and first cracks
From where we watch
The obscure universe unfurl

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Jill Varley moved to Quebec as a young adult to study French. Her lifelong passion for literature and languages has kept her reading, studying, teaching or translating French and English in various contexts ever since. ~ back to top