
Switch
The Complete Catullus
Isobel Williams(Author)
Carcanet Classics (Publisher)
Published on 31. August 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
220 pages
978-1-80017-339-2 (ISBN)
Description
During the latter phases of Covid, Isobel Williams completed her celebrated translations of the polyamorous ancient Roman poet Catullus. The poems that proved impossible when she prepared Shibari Carmina, published to acclaim in 2021, finally surrendered to her. 'Translating Catullus has been, for me, like cage fighting with two opponents, not just A Top Poet, but the schoolgirl I was, trained to show the examiner that she knew what each word meant.' The conflict was resolved by a third component, the context of shibari, a Japanese form of rope bondage with its own knotty terminology. Due to its severe restraints Catullus came alive in all his 'tormented intelligence and romantic versatility'. Critics called the work 'explosive and impactful', 'one of the most exciting translation volumes of recent years', 'lyrical, funny, engaging, and insightful', 'a bracingly foul, but also a shrewd and funny Catullus' - 'Isobel Williams' naughty translation puts the Roman poet in a bondage dungeon.' He will never be quite the same again.
Switch joins Carcanet's Classics series. Like its incomplete predecessor it is illustrated with bondage drawings by the translator herself. She adds a 'who shagged whom' chart so readers can move confidently from one engagement to the next.
Switch joins Carcanet's Classics series. Like its incomplete predecessor it is illustrated with bondage drawings by the translator herself. She adds a 'who shagged whom' chart so readers can move confidently from one engagement to the next.
Reviews / Votes
'Williams has created a bracingly foul, but also a shrewd and funny Catullus' - Colin Burrow, London Review of BooksMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Carcanet Press Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
282 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80017-339-2 (9781800173392)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2023
Carcanet Classics
€16.31
Available for download
Person
Isobel Williams was educated at Woking Girls' Grammar School and Somerville College, Oxford. She blogs about live-drawing, has held solo exhibitions in London and Oslo, and has written for publications ranging from The Amorist to International Journal for the Semiotics of Law. She wrote and illustrated The Supreme Court: a Guide for Bears (2017) and Catullus: Shibari Carmina (Carcanet, 2021) and contributed a chapter to Design in Legal Education (Routledge, 2022).