The core issue is that translation expands our linguistic horizons, making distant voices feel close enough to touch. Here’s the expanded, fully unique rendition that preserves every key fact while smoothing the journey for readers new to this topic. And yes, it’s crafted to invite discussion—as some viewpoints will inevitably spark debate.
But here’s where it gets controversial: should a translator’s choices be celebrated as creative art, or should fidelity to the original’s nuances take absolute precedence? You decide after reading.
U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze announces a major new work: Transient Worlds, a personal, deeply considered guide to poetry as it travels across languages. The book, published by Copper Canyon Press in partnership with the Library of Congress, is slated for release on April 14, 2026. It charts about 1,500 years of poetry from around the globe and features English translations from 13 languages, including Arabic, Braj Bhasha, Greek, Japanese, Navajo, Spanish, and Tzeltal.
Sze, the 25th U.S. Poet Laureate, describes translation as a universal force that continuously enriches English—an evolving language that grows through its exchanges with the world. He explains that translation makes ancient voices contemporary, makes distant tongues legible, and helps the shared human experience feel universal.
Structured into 15 sections, or “zones,” Transient Worlds presents a mix of established translators and first-time voices. Each section showcases how translators make linguistic and artistic decisions, while Sze’s generous commentary guides readers to appreciate the poems in their original languages—even when the reader isn’t familiar with those tongues.
Beyond translation as a restaurant of meanings, the book equips readers with practical tools to try translating themselves. It invites readers to compose new poems inspired by the act of translation, offering approaches that accommodate both monolingual and multilingual readers. An appendix tailored for instructors provides exercises Sze developed during his decades of teaching at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Sze’s aim is not only to deepen appreciation for language but also to broaden our respect for humanity across cultures. He states that translation acts as a bridge-builder, enriching everyone when we share these linguistic forms. Poetry in translation, he adds, plays a crucial role in bringing people together.
About Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze was born in 1950 in New York City to Chinese immigrant parents. He has published 12 poetry collections, most recently Into the Hush (2025), along with The White Orchard: Selected Interviews, Essays, and Poems (2025). His body of work also includes The Glass Constellation (2021), which earned the 2024 Science and Literature Award from the National Book Foundation, Sight Lines (2019), which won the National Book Award for Poetry, Compass Rose (2014), a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and several other acclaimed titles. His honors span the Bollingen Prize, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Shelley Memorial Award, the Jackson Poetry Prize, the Lannan Literary Award, and the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award, among others. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Howard Foundation, and multiple grants from the Witter Bynner Foundation. A former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Sze is a professor emeritus at the Institute of American Indian Arts and resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, poet Carol Moldaw. He also served as Santa Fe’s first poet laureate.
About the Poet Laureate Position
The Library of Congress hosts the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, a role established in 1937 to uplift national engagement with reading and writing poetry. Since the 1980s, the position has carried the formal title Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, with a mandate codified into law. Laureates have historically developed projects that broaden poetry’s audience and deepen public appreciation.
For more information about the Poet Laureate program and Library initiatives, visit loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature. Details about the Laureate’s terms and related projects are available at loc.gov/poetry/laureate-2011-present.html and loc.gov/poetry/laureate-projects.html.
The Library of Congress stands as the world’s largest library, preserving a vast record of American creativity and global materials—accessible on-site and online. It serves as the research arm of the U.S. Congress and houses the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore more at loc.gov, learn legislative information at congress.gov, and register works at copyright.gov.
PR contacts:
Brett Zongker, Library of Congress, bzongker@loc.gov
Elizabeth Brueggemann, Copper Canyon Press, elizabeth@coppercanyonpress.org
PR 25-075 | 12/15/2025
ISSN 0731-3527
