Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. What is the point of a translation? Is it to create a

word-for-word copy of a work? Is it to capture the essence of it? What is the balance between

translating literally versus taking liberties? The poet Mary Jo Bang's newly completed translation of Dante's divine comedy

leans more on the latter side of things with language and references that would be more

legible to us reading in the 21st century. It's a project 20 years in the making,

and she just published the third and last piece, Paradiso. And in this interview with NPR's Ari Shapiro,

she talks about what it felt like to undertake such a large and daunting project. That's coming up.

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What makes a poem more than 700 years old feel relevant today?

The poet Mary Jo Bang is uniquely qualified to answer that question because she has spent

the last 20 years translating Dante's Divine Comedy, that famous trilogy of Inferno, Pergatorio, and Paradiso. These new translations

are lively, contemporary, and casual. Langston Hughes and Elton John make appearances. She references

The Simpsons and Edward Snowden. And Mary Jo Bang's reward for reaching the end of this epic journey

is that she gets to talk with us about it.

Mary Tobang, I'm sorry if that's a disappointing prize.

No, it's not at all disappointing.

I'm thrilled to be talking to you, Ari.

Well, we're thrilled to have you.

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