Sing, O Mother Tongue! A Celebration of World Languages Through Poetry

View the University of Michigan Library's celebration of the 25th anniversary of UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day. This event, which occurred in person in the Hatcher Gallery on February 26, 2025 with over 100 attendees in-person and online, highlighted poetry from across the globe, featuring library faculty, staff, and friends performing poems in their mother or learned languages. Following the readings, visitors had the opportunity to explore a small exhibit of collection materials showcasing books of poetry in some of the many languages the library collects, enjoy international treats, and travel through a world of scripts.

Observed since the year 2000, International Mother Language Day is one representation of UNESCO’s efforts to preserve linguistic diversity and encourage the use of and education in mother languages. Here at the U-M library, our collections and research support in languages other than English further the same mission. More information about International Mother Language Day can be found on the UNESCO website: https://www.unesco.org/en/days/mother-language 

Performers:
Kayla Gonyon - Anisinaabemowin (Ojibwe)
Poem: “To the Pine Tree on first seeing it on returning from Europe” by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, 1810 (translator not named)

Emma Lerman - Yiddish
Poem: אַ נײ קלײד ("A New Dress") by Rokhl Korn, 1947 (translator not named)

Zohreh Khodadost - Persian
Poem: پرنده فقط یک پرنده بود ("The Bird was Just a Bird") by فروغ فرخزاد (Forogh Farrokhzad), translated by Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr.

Yunah Sung - Korean
Poem: 윤동주 서시 ("Prologue") by 윤동주 (Yun Tong-ju) (translator not named)

Lisandri Kola (usually just goes by Lis) - Albanian
Poem: "MË FALNI DIÇKA" ("Please Give Me Something") by Martin Camaj, translated by Leonard Fox

Loyd Mbabu - Swahili
Poem: "Mlango" ("Door") by Alamin Mazrui, translated by Katriina Ranne

Thúy Anh Nguyễn - Vietnamese
Poem: "Một tia hy vọng" ("A ray of hope") by Trần Dần, translated by Thúy Anh Nguyễn

Laura Grey - French
Poem: "Adieu" ("Goodbye") by Charles Grandmougin, translated by Laura Grey

Barbara Alvarez - Polish
Poem: "Urodziny" ("Birthday") by Wisława Szymborska, translated by Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh

Hao Zhang - Chinese
Poem:《归去来兮辞》选段 ("The Return" (excerpt)) by 陶渊明 (Tao Yuanming), translated by James Robert Hightower

Brendan Nieubuurt - Russian
Poem: “Кремлёвский горец” (“The Kremlin Mountaineer” / “The Stalin Epigram”) by Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам (Osip Emil’evich Mandelstam), translated by Dmitri Smirnov

Katherine Tapia & Zach Severs - Catalan
Poem: "De Consolació" ("On Consolation") by Ramon Llull, translated by Katherine Tapia

Suparna Hande (introduced by Keiko Yokota-Carter) - Japanese
Poem: 「朝のリレー」谷川俊太郎 ("Morning Relay") by Shuntaro Tanigawa, translated by Suparna Hande