From IAN CROCKATT, translator
I have just heard that you are planning to withdraw essential funding from Arc Publishing from 2012 as part of your efforts to save money.
I think there is no other specialist publisher of poetry in translation in Britain, certainly none with the experience and commitment to quality that Arc has consistently displayed for so many years.
Translated poetry may appear to be something of a luxury, but in fact the ebb and flow it helps create between the artists, languages and nations of the world has been recognized since ancient times as an essential part of the exchange of ideas and understanding between peoples. The whole of western culture - its religions, sciences, philosophies and arts - is based on the translation of texts, primarily from the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, but many others too. There can have been few periods of history which needed this vital flow of understanding between peoples as much as the world needs it now – Arc Publishing plays a small but vital part in this process.
Poetry makes us listen more closely, understand at deeper levels, and through its beauty and challenges brings people closer together. Arc is a fine example of this understanding of poetry working in action across frontiers of geography, time and culture – please do not let its contribution go to the wall.
I sincerely hope you will have the opportunity to reconsider your position.