Jesse Lee Kercheval: Spanish brought poetry alive for me again

Chosen Tongue

Jesse Lee Kercheval is an award-winning artist, writer, poet, and translator. Her most recent books include the poetry collections, I want to tell you, and Un Pez Dorado no te sirve para nada. Selected poems translated by Ezequiel Zaindenwerg and published in Uruguay by editorial Yaugarù, which also published Jesse's collection of Spanish language poetry, Extranjera/Stranger. Jesse's other books include America that island off the Coast of France, The Alice Stories, and the memoir Space, all of which won important awards. Jess's translations include poems by Idea Vilariño and Circe Maia. Jess is the Zona Gale Professor Emerita of English at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the editor of the Wisconsin Poetry Series at the University of Wisconsin Press. Jesse's graphic memoir, French Girl, is forthcoming from Philmau's Press. She currently lives between Madison, Wisconsin and Montevideo, Uruguay. Together, we discuss Jesse's experience of becoming a translingual writer in Spanish, how she discovered her love for Spanish while living in Uruguay, and how it led her to become a translator of Uruguayan poetry. Jesse also talked about the challenges and joys of writing poetry in Spanish, the impact of switching language on a writer's voice, and the reception of her work in a second language.