Dante's Purgatorio has been described as the most 'human' of the three parts of his Comedy, and it can also be seen as a 'singing school' for poets. This new complete translation by sixteen contemporary poets enters into dialogue with Dante's text by rendering it in a variety of different Anglophone voices - American, Australian, British, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish and Singaporean. The poets in this Purgatorio adopt a range of forms, from blank verse to terza rima, and their translations are accompanied by explanatory notes, a 'prelude' of poems about Purgatory, and a 'postscript' of newly-translated medieval Italian lyrics relating to Dante and his poem.

This anthology of versions by 16 contemporary poets from around the world of the 33 Cantos of Dante's Purgatorio is published to mark the 700th centenary of Dante's death in 1321. With an absorbing Introduction by Nick Havely tracing Dante's influence on countless poets over the centuries, and detailed explanatory notes, canto by canto, this volume is both an outstanding work of scholarship and, for the poetry lover, a superb way into the world of this extraordinary medieval masterpiece.

Publication 15 July 2021