In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields is often called "the most Canadian poem".
It was written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it after presiding over the funeral of a friend who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world's most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict.
The big event "In Flanders Fields" happened on November 9th, 2019 at Fort York National Historic Site: poets from various ethnic communities presented this poem, translated by each poet to their respective native languages.
Our project received an award from Canadian Ethnic Media Association!
The project was nominated for Canadian Governor General's Award in 2021.
See below the original of the poem as well as translations to different languages.
Coast to Coast podcast about the In Flanders Fields project
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae
Translations
Afrikaans - translated by Zingisile Mbo, contributed by Yuri Marusik
Albanian - translated by Aneta Xhiku, contributed by Miranda Basha and Bujar Sinoimeri
Arabic - translated by Sara Alasttal, contributed by Victor Fet. Translated by Azzam AbuRayash, contributed by Farida Samerkhanova
Armenian - translated by Simon Tovmassian, contributed by Sophia Tovmassian
Azerbaijani - translated by Shahrun Suleymanova. Contributed by Leyla Begim and Valida Guseinova
Bashkir - translated by Bulat Akhtyamov, Zulfiya Gayfullina, Nizam Iskhakov, contributed by Farida Samerkhanova
Belarusian - translated by Mikhail Kenka, contributed by Violetta Kovaleva
Bengali - translated by Madhuparna Gupta
Bulgarian - translated by Alexi Popov, contributed by Victor Fet
Catalan - translated by Isidor Marí, contributed by Judith Cohen
Chinese - translated by Anna Yin, contributed by Pat Connors
Croatian - translated by Roman Ozimec, contributed by Victor Fet
Czech - translated by Petr Dolejš, contributed by Yuri Marusik
Danish - translated by Henrik Bringsøe, contributed by Victor Fet
Dholuo - translated by Dalmas Okoth, contributed by Grace M. Kioko and Yuri Marusik
Dutch - translated by Shoshannah Brombacher
Estonian - translator unknown, contributed by Victor Fet
Farsi - translated by Alireza Zamani, contributed by Victor Fet
Finnish - translated by Veikko Huuska, contributed by Seppo Koponen and Yuri Marusik
French - translated by David Zanier, contributed by Alexandre Melnik. Translated by Guy Laffaille, contributed by Judith Cohen
Georgian - translations by Koba Chumburidze with contribution by Simon Safro, and by Konstantine Gulisashvili
German - translated by Madhuparna Gupta
Greek - translated by Spyros Sfendourakus, contributed by Victor Fet
Hebrew - translations by Ophra Opher Oren, Tsur Ehrlich. Contributed by Galit Baram - Consul General of Israel
Hill Mari - translated by Tatyana Ivanova, contributed by Victor Fet and Nadezhda Fedoseeva
Hungarian translated by Nika Géza, contributed by Janos Ratonyi
Igbo - translated by Nicholas Ihewulezi, contributed by Victor Fet
Italian - translated by Margarita Feliciano
Japanese - translator unknown. Contributed by Natasha Abramova and Jacob Abramov, read by Kumiko Ishizuka
Kabardian - translated by Murat Temir, contributed by Victor Fet
Kazakh - translated by Bolat Kydyralin, contributed by Farida Samerkhanova
Khakas - translated by Maria Çertykova, contributed by Victor Fet
Khanty - translated by Andrey Kaksin, contributed by Victor Fet
Korean - translated by Seung-Hee Jeon, contributed by Yefim Somin
Kyrgyz - translated by Aida Egemberdieva, contributed by Victor Fet
Ladino - translated by Rachel Amado Bortnick and Daisy Sedaca Braverman, contributed by Judith Cohen
Latvian - translated by Inese Cera, contributed by Yuri Marusik
Macedonian - translated by Dragi Stojkovski. Contributed by Vasil Yancoff.
Marathi - translated by Makarand Ketkar and Anand Padhye, contributed by Victor Fet
Northern Romani - translated by Victor Shapoval, contributed by Victor Fet
Norwegian - translated by Jan Ove Rein, contributed by Victor Fet
Polish - translated by Alicja Bakalarski, contributed by Alexander Soypher
Portuguese - translated by Rosaly Graf, contributed by Victor Fet
Romanian - translated by Maria C. Babiuc, contributed by Victor Fet
Russian - translations by Vita Shtivelman, Dmitry Broytman, Michael Scherb
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Russian "In Flanders Fields" song and video - created by Elena Obolensky based on the translation by Vita Shtivelman; filmed in Ypres, Flanders.
Serbian - translated by Ivo Karaman, contributed by Victor Fet
Shona - translated by Zingisile Mbo, contributed by Yuri Marusik
Shor - translated by Liubov’ Arbacakova, contributed by Victor Fet
Slovenian - translated by Matjaz Cernila, contributed by Yuri Marusik
Spanish - translated by Sergei Obolenski, contributed by Elena Obolensky
Swahili - translated by Grace M. Kioko and Joshua S. Bichanga, contributed by Yuri Marusik
Tabasaran - translated by Elmira Ashurbekova. Contributed by Miyasat Muslimova.
Tatar - translations by Bulat Akhtyamov and Zulfiya Gayfullina, Adel Badretdinov, Ramziya Kamalova and Yoldyz, contributed by Farida Samerkhanova
Thai - translated by Uamphon Kumnuansilp Bringsøe, contributed by Henrik Bringsøe.
Turkish - translated by Ersen Yagmur, contributed by Victor Fet
Turkmen - translated by Gochmurat Gutlyev and Dоvlet Amanov, contributed by Victor Fet
Ukrainian - translated by Alexander Soypher with consultation from Ilia Lipes
Vietnamese - translated by Phuc Dinh, contributed by Victor Fet
Xhosa - translated by Zingisile Mbo, contributed by Yuri Marusik
Yoruba - translated by Nicholas Ihewulezi, contributed by Victor Fet
Zulu - translated by Zingisile Mbo, contributed by Yuri Marusik