We can only fondly assume that Professors emeriti Dick Barnes and Robert Mezey reserved a special affinity for this poignant meditation (see boxed poem) on the frustrations of literary scholarship during the ten years they have spent together translating and editing the complete poems of Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges. The fruits of their labor will be at our fingertips this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday when they, along with six other scholars hailing all the way from Crookshank to Dublin and Buenos Aires, will present The Poet Borges: A Centenary Celebration. The festival marks not only the 100th anniversary of Borges’ birth, but also the culmination of a ten-year project in creating a definitive translation of his poetry. It will include lectures on original manuscripts now being held at Honnold, as well as panel discussions composed of both scholars and personal acquaintances of Borges. The festival concludes with Saturday night’s Tango Party.

The point of the festival–not conference (an important distinction, notes Mezey)–is enjoyment; until now, these poems have essentially been kept from the English-speaking world, introduced only through a few poor translations, a phenomenon which not only inspired the venture but will also be, to a degree, remedied by this definitive collection. Thus the festival will center on Borges’ poetry; his essays, short stories, and other works will not be the focus in order to remain faithful to Borges’ own self-definition. "I will stand or fall by my poems," he once said. The festival, which is without a doubt the first of its kind, will honor these poems as the essence of Borges’ art.

The massive collection of poems that inspired the celebration cannot, however, be found at Huntley, its translators will not be autographing copies, as the book does not legally exist; this vast volume exists only in manuscript and comb-bound photocopies which Mezey, Barnes, and other associated scholars distribute selectively after having been dropped as official translators by Borges’ publisher, Viking Penguin. The publishing firm (which gained the rights to Borges’ work after taking over the smaller E.P. Dutton firm) and Borges’ widow have refused all translating rights after removing Mezey and Barnes from the project, leaving them with a collection of clandestine translations, or what they term "samizdat" versions of Borges’ poems.

Despite these legal battles, The Collected Poems is a monumental achievement, entirely worthy of this unique and extraordinary festival. The poems themselves have been painstakingly translated into English meter, a labor of love that could only be accomplished by two poets. Professor Mezey says that, in the process of translating the poems, he and Barnes "created a fictitious poet named Borges and re-wrote his poems–the voice in the poems is a voice we heard." That third voice is one that has never before been so definitively presented; if Borges considered himself primarily a poet and his poetry has not, until now, been so thoroughly translated, then this weekend will be no less than the first English celebration of the spirit of Borges. The Poet Borges marks a rare and great event in Spanish and English literature. And it’s happening right here. Mezey said, "I’ve been writing poetry for 50 years, and the Borges stuff is the best I’ve ever done." That says something. Don’t miss it.