Molecules of Revolt: Re-reading and Translating Joyce Mansour
with Emilie Moorhouse and Lisa Spalt, moderated by Anna Luhn
Reading, Conversation
Fr., 11.4.2025
19:45–21:15
Safi Faye Hall
In English and German with simultaneous translation

Joyce Mansour in Paris, 1977 © Photo: Marion Kalter
Naked
I float between the wreck with steel moustaches
Rusted by interrupted dreams
By the soft ululation of the sea[1]
Joyce Mansour (1928–1986) was a singular voice within the Surrealist movement, whose poetry burned with an intensity that set her apart from her contemporaries. Born in England to a Syrian-Jewish family and raised in Egypt, she later became a key figure in Parisian Surrealist circles, where her work was championed by André Breton. Mansour’s writing—raw, erotic, and often unsettling—explores themes of desire, death, and the subconscious.
This event presents a conversation and reading with Emilie Moorhouse and Lisa Spalt, two translators who have played crucial roles in bringing Mansour’s poetry to new audiences. Moorhouse’s recent translation, Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems by Joyce Mansour (City Lights, 2023), introduces English-speaking readers to the poet’s defiant and uncompromising vision. Spalt’s German translations have similarly expanded Mansour’s reach, allowing new readers to engage with her work.
Moderated by Anna Luhn, the discussion delves into the challenges of translating Mansour’s complex, sensuous language and the enduring relevance of her work. As her words find new life in translation, this conversation examines how her spirit transcends language, affirming her place as one of the most radical voices in Surrealist literature.
[1] ‘Pericoloso Sporgersi.’, Serge Gavronsky, ed., Essential Poems and Writings of Joyce Mansour (Boston: Black Widow Press, 2008), 207.