Alison A Smith Biography

Born on an orchard in Central Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia.

Life was a struggle but with 4 siblings there was always something going on.

I have used poetry all my life to guide my thoughts and decipher the world around me.

I spend a lot of time not speaking to a soul. Words on a page have become my companions.

I am "Alone in a crowd".

Alison

Exploring other cultures and language

Blog Posted by Alison A Smith : 9/3/2026 3:33:00 PM

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Richards Avatar
September 4, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Alison: Not a peep out of Marian... So, I veto the idea to make any changes to PS. (I removed my earlier examples as to how PS support diversity as it received no comments.)
Richards Avatar
September 5, 2026 at 1:33 AM
I have posted my own blog and addressed some of the pitfalls and perhaps a work around. In SA, there aren't any particular websites dedicated to one of the 11 official languages, hence we post in English if we want to be read. Even posting to the African Haiku Society, eg, my haibun, From Purgatory to Paradise. I think that there are many language groups being catered for, eg, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Asian and Arabic languages and I would stick to English on this site if I were TPS.
Smith  Avatar
September 4, 2026 at 11:33 PM
I understand Suzette ... I have not seen him post since I put this blog up. I guess the idea is something that maybe sister poetry soup sites could be with language for non English speakers. Don't really know the solution. Unfortunately PoetrySoup Team rarely visit to get their thoughts.
Parker Avatar
September 4, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Poetry is written in every language on earth. Always has been. There is no reason individuals couldn't post their work in native languages and have the reader engage a translation app to complete the experience. It it appears to be an English-only site but can always be modified if Management cares to so be led. Clearly the are a multitude of languages represented on Soup, suppeq, zupa, sopa, soep, çorba, etc.
Richards Avatar
September 4, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Sop (Afrikaans) 😊 AI translations lose the essence of a poem and is seldom accurate - therein lies the rub. A premium member could post their own translation of their poem - permitted by PS - and accompany it with an audio in their native tongue. English remains the most widely spoken language in the world with 1.5 billion people using it, so it is not a case of its importance being overstated. Let us hear what Marian has to say as he had brought up the topic. BTW This site would be difficult to manage if other scripts should be introduced, eg, Cyrillic, Chinese or Japanese characters, etc. I do think that poetry and related topics should be adhered to, but broader topics are often explored via poetry and articles, eg cultural differences - I've done it often enough.
Etgen-Baker Avatar
September 4, 2026 at 4:32 AM
hmmmm...thought provoking
Richards Avatar
September 4, 2026 at 6:07 AM
Russian belongs to the broader Slavic languages. Poets such as Pushkin had his sonnets successfully translated into English and his satirical Onegin Stanzas are popular among scholars. I am weary of the sweeping statement that Slavic works are not translated into English as it is untrue.
Smith  Avatar
September 4, 2026 at 5:20 AM
It is isn't . I found it interesting that english poems translate into Slovak but not the other way around.
Hind Avatar
September 3, 2026 at 7:39 PM
It might increase PoetrySoup popularity and influence, as well as unite and make others with English not their native tongue feel understood, Alison :) ...Slovak, cool.
Dietrich Avatar
September 3, 2026 at 5:05 PM
This is a lovely idea, Alison. But from my experience with this type of thing, there would never be enough involvement by people to make it very popular. For example, I think there is a place to put articles and short stories. Never have I recieved any feedback from my articles posted here and those are in English. It would be cool if people with the most used languages other than English could form a group to support such an undertaking as you suggest!
Smith  Avatar
September 3, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Hopefully this is a way it can happen

Previous Blogs

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace