Review of Whit ails, whit heals
Christine De Luca's poetry has now appeared in translation into various languages including Italian, Icelandic, Norwegian and French. In 2007, her bi-lingual collection Mondes Parallèles won the Prix de Poésie du Salon du Livre Insulaire in Brittany, and she was invited to take part in the Trois-Rivières International Poetry Festival in Québec Province.
A further invitation to the 2024 Trois-Rivières festival resulted in this collection, 'Whit ails, whit heals. Ce qui afflige, ce qui apaise,' translated specially for the event by Dr Jean-Yves Le Disez.
The 90-page book is a quality production: the covers attractive, flexible and strong, the poems with ample room to breathe, each with its French translation opposite. There are 36 poems in all, none of them long, 24 of them in Shaetlan. The poet's introduction, acknowledgements, and short final notes appear in both English and French.
The content is attractive and varied, from 'Prairie Lines, Manitoba' to 'DNA' ('ADN' in French, of course!), from kayakers in Rönas Voe to astronauts circling the Earth. Themes vary, but childhood, family relationships, and ageing recur. So does the natural world, as we would expect in Christine's writing. The French translation is very pleasing.
Here is Rönas Hill as seen by the kayakers:
red granite aawye, slow revelation fae da dark.
becomes
partout, lente révélation venue des ténèbres, le granit rouge.
Here, from 'Dat Trickster Sun':
da foo spectrum o taerdraps; a slow air
ta turn you inside oot, ta brack a haert.
becomes
spectre complet de larmes; lente mélodie
à vous retourner, à vous briser le cÅ“ur.
It would be worth the reader's while - I would tentatively suggest! - to try reading at least some of these poems aloud. That is, if you feel up to it, and circumstances seem right! Shaetlan always benefits from being read aloud, and so will the musicality of the French.
Christine's willingness to tackle unusual subjects has been a constant in her writing. She fully acknowledges the dark side of life, but somehow, an underlying positivity comes through. The amazing natural world is a constant source of reflection and wonder. Modern life and modern developments provide ample opportunity for imagination. Retrospection helps understanding. Christine looks all around her, and very often, forwards. What will happen next? Is there ever an end to the story?
'Dis Material Wirld', inspired by volcanic Iceland, stresses the temporary nature of human existence, and yet the ending seeks towards something more, an ultimate destiny
...whaar knowledge ends an history shaeds ta story,
whaar imagination an poetry is jöst da beginnin.
...où finit le savoir et où l'Histoire n'est plus qu'histoires,
où imagination et poésie ne sont que le début.
The final poem - 'La Perle' - may seem an unusual choice. But Christine can quite often surprise us. It was inspired by a modern composer who, it seems, likes to surprise her audience too: her purpose is
(to) knock us out of dullness
into new worlds.
...nous tirer de la torpeur
vers des mondes nouveaux
It seems a very fitting conclusion to this lovely bi-lingual collection.
Review of 'Whit ails, whit heals', Laureen Johnson, The Shetland Times, August 2025