In 2007, with the financial support of the DAR Foundation, a book of poems about Armenia and translations from the Rhythms and Rhymes of Armenia by Alla Ter-Hakobyan was published.
“… In my opinion, the best translation is the one in which the reader does not realize that the given poem is not written in his native language. That is, a translator (who certainly has a poetic gift!) must experience during their work, the inspiration that the author experienced. And here, it is not so important that the translation used the same word as in the original, and, perhaps, not even quite the same image – the main thing is the coincidence of the emotional force of the influence and the leading thought of the author. Why would a good translator “remove” himself, obscure his own personality?…
… Many names of my friends are in the book. Many of them, alas, have already crossed over to a better world. And to those who remain on this Earth, I wish that the creative impulse does not leave them until the end of their earthly days. As a Theosophist, I can assure them that inspiration and imagination will be needed by everyone beyond the earthly line – even more so than here …
… On the cover of the book, there is a painting by the artist and poetess Svetlana Hakobyan, whose poem about Jeanne d’Arc – a powerful poem about a heroic personality – the reader will be able to appreciate. Such happiness that there are so many talents on our planet in general and on its lively piece of Armenian soil in particular!” (A. Ter-Hakobyan, from the preface to the book)
