The Most Extraordinary and Beautiful Translation I Have Ever Seen (And You Just Might Say the Same)

Because of some recent whatnot & etc. this finds me flailingly behind with my email. Slowly but surely I am catching up; however you will never find me complaining about email when among the missives are such beautiful gifts as this, from American poet Hiram Larew:

Dear Ms. Mayo—

I thought you might enjoy these two clips.

In a 2+-minute video, Eric Epstein offers his American Sign Language interpretation of Magic, a poem that first appeared in Orbis and then in my collection, Mud Ajar. Eric Epstein’s American Sign Language Interpretation of Larew’s Poem, “Magic” – YouTube

And, in a 4+ minute Behind the Scenes video, Mr. Epstein describes the process he used to translate the poem into ASL.

Behind the Scenes — Eric Epstein Discusses How He Translated “Magic” – YouTube

I thank Eric for his open, amazing spirit.

To the magic of ASL and poetry!

Hiram Larew

I welcome your courteous comments which, should you feel so moved, you can email to me here.

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Tip Jar? Not Exactly… But you can buy my books!

Patreon and PayPal are oftentimes used by bloggers and podcasters as a “tip jar,” however, for reasons too lengthy to go into here, I do not use either of these services for Madam Mayo blog or my podcasts.

I write Madam Mayo blog and podcast for whomever might happen to find it of interest, whether they be long-time readers, my workshop students, friends, family, or chance visitors. (For more about the idea of creative work as gift, see Lewis Hyde’s The Gift.)

And of course, I hope the writing and podcasts here may entice you to also read my books. You can always buy my books here. If you buy the book new, I earn royalties. If the book is in-print and you buy a used copy, however, Krampus will fart on you. Either way, if you encounter me in meatspace and ask nicely, I shall be delighted to inscribe it for you!

By the way, you can now also find some of my longform essays not-yet-in-print on Kindle, among them: “Dispatch from the Sister Republic or, Papelito Habla” and “From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion.”

On a tight budget? It is also possible that you can find some of my books in your local or university library. If not, don’t be shy, ask the librarian to consider ordering it for the library. Guess what, sometimes they do!

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Any links to amazon.com are for books I sincerely recommend and/or by request of many of the authors who appear here in the monthly by-invitation-only Q & As. (That is to say, many of the authors I interview specifically request that I provide a link to buy their book on amazon.com; as a courtesy to them, I do so.)

I am well aware of the problematic nature of Amazon’s outsize market power. If you wish to make your book purchases directly from independent bookstores and small publishers, I would celebrate your doing so by your going to their webpages, which links I provide on occasion, and when not, dear writerly reader, Google or duckduckgo and ye shall find.