The next Writers Roundtable will be held on Saturday, Aug. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Orcas Library.

It will be an “Introduction to Chinese Poetics and the Art of Translation” by presenter John Friedmann.

Chinese poetry of the classical period is revelatory when rendered in excellent translation. In his presentation, John will both talk about the special challenges of rendering Chinese poetry into English and read a selection of poems from recent translations by David Hinton and David Young.

They will range from earliest (and utterly amazing) poems dating back to the Third Century BCE to the Ninth century CE, with a large selection of the poetry of Du Fu (712-770CE).