International PEN Poem Relay
This is the official website of the International PEN China Campaign Poem Relay
Celebrating Linguistic Diversity and Carrying the Torch for Freedom of Expression in China
The poem 'June' by imprisoned Chinese poet and journalist Shi Tao has been relaying around the world, country to country, language to language, until it reaches Beijing on August 8 for the Olympics. You can read and hear translations by clicking on locations on the map below.
UPDATE August 8, 2008: With the late addition of Afrikaans and Lakota translations on August 7, the PEN Poem Relay has reached 127 translations of 'June' to 100 languages! Just in time for the Olympics, which begin today, August 8, 8 pm Beijing time. After a journey that took it around the world and to more locations than any torch has ever been, 'June' returns to Beijing and to Mandarin. Click on the yellow pin to read, hear and see a video of June in Mandarin.
Shi Tao, and 43 other writers remain in prison in China. And this website about a poem remains blocked there.
The PEN Poem Relay has sent a Poetic Petition with all of its translations of 'June' to Hu Jintao, president of China, calling for the release of all writers in prison in China. Download the Press Release and Full Press Kit
Now we are asking you to write a letter. During the Olympics, take time out to send the Chinese authorities a letter and include a translation of June to your own language. Click on Take Action to see how.
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Sydney Centre
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On 24 April you can watch the
video performance of June in...Darug 
Read and listen to it in...
Arrernte 
And also watch video
performances in...English Spanish French - -33.240516 151.501135
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Adelaide PEN
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On 24 April you can read and listen to the poem in...
Adnyamathanha Ngarrindjeri Polish - -34.92577 138.599732
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Afar-speaking Centre
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On 13 April you can...
Read and listen to the poem in Afar
Afar And read the poem in...
French - 11.5806 43.1425
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Afghan Centre
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On 16 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Pashto - 34.5155 69.1952
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Algerian Centre
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On 13 April you can read the poem in...
Arabic Arabic - 36.716667 3.183333
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American Centre
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On 9 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...English Recited by Billy Collins
- 40.7709218528 -74.0897369385
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Austrian Centre
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Arrival: 31 March 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
German Viennese - 48.2343468258 16.3823890703
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Basque Centre
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On 7 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Basque - 43.2577057398 -2.92819976807
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Belarusian Centre
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On 5 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Belarus - 53.967787 27.576555
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Belgian (Dutch-Speaking) Centre
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On 7 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Dutch - 51.015236 4.202076
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Belgian (French-Speaking) Centre
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On 7 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...French - 50.8371668785 4.36809539795
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Central Asian Centre
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Arrival: 2 April 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Kyrgyz - 42.8679 74.5984
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Bosnia-Herzegovina Centre
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Arrival: 1 April 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Bosnian - 43.860751 18.42136
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Canadian Centre
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On 9 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Cree - 43.7157828724 -79.493637085
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Catalan Centre
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On 12 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Catalan Tamazight - 41.387917 2.169919
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Chechen Writers Centre
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Arrival: 3 April 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Chechen - 43.3091910999 45.6591796875
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Croatian Centre
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Arrival: 1 April 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Croatian - 45.79695 15.96053
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Cuban Writers in Exile Centre
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read and listen to the poem in...
Spanish - 25.833887326 -80.2801895142
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Czech Centre
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Arrival: 1 April 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Czech - 50.087811 14.42046
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English Centre
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On 6 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...English (Recited by Juliet Stevenson)
and read it in...
Welsh - 51.528987 -0.110261
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Finnish Centre
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On 5 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Finnish - 60.208006 25.082924
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Galician Centre
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On 12 April, you can read the poem in...
Galician - 42.880447 -8.546303
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German Centre
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On 7 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...German - 49.8711850104 8.65310668945
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German-speaking Writers Abroad Centre
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Arrival: 31 March 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
German German [2] - 50.940664 6.959911
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Greek Centre
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Arrival: 30 March 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Greek - 37.97918 23.716647
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Guinean Centre
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On 13 April, you can read the poem in...
Poular - 11.3164606891 -12.2888946533
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Hong Kong (Chinese-speaking) Centre
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On 2 May you can listen to the poem in...
Cantonese - 22.3811904241 114.189491272
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Hong Kong (English-speaking) Centre
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On 2 May you can listen to the poem in...
English - 22.208274 114.02882
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Icelandic Centre
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On 6 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Icelandic - 64.135338 -21.89521
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Iraq Centre
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On 14 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Arabic - 33.319053445 44.384765625
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Irish Centre
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On 6 April you can read and listen
to the poem in...Gaeilge (Gaelic) - 53.356522 -6.372527
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Israeli Centre
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On 15 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Hebrew - 32.050279878 34.7610855103
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Japanese Centre
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On 26 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Japanese - 35.678451 139.682282
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Kenyan Centre
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On 13 April, you can read the poem in...
Swahili - -1.2762 36.7965
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Kurdish Centre
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On 3 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Kurdish Spanish - 38.11581 40.223931
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Lithuanian Centre
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On 5 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Lithuanian - 54.6988367357 25.2507019043
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Macedonian Centre
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On 4 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Macedonian - 42.0281290285 21.4247131348
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Melbourne Centre
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On 24 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Hindi Marathi Yiddish - -37.776946 145.018479
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Mexican Centre
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read and listen to the poem in...
Spanish And read the poem in...
Náhuatl Tsotsil Mayan - 19.42705 -99.127571
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Netherlands Centre
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On 7 April you can read and listen to the poem in...
Frisian Dutch - 52.373812 4.890951
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Nigerian Centre
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On 13 April, you can read the poem in...
Hausa Igbo Yoruba - 7.3917 3.8923
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Norwegian Centre
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On 6 April you can read and listen
to the poem in...Nynorsk
(New Norwegian) Bokmål
(Regular Norwegian) - 59.91382 10.738741
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Pakistani Centre
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On 2 August you can read
and listen to the poem in...Urdu - 31.6 74.314
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Paraguayan Centre
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On 11 April you can read the poem in...
Spanish Paraguayan Guarani - -25.2831960128 -57.6600265503
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Philippine Centre
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On 23 April you can read and listen to the poem in...
Bikol Cebuano Hiligaynon Kinaray-a Matigsalog Tagalog Chavacano And read the poem in...
Iloko Tausug - 14.579 120.9726
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Polish Centre
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Arrival: 31 March 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Polish - 52.229676 21.012229
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Portuguese Centre
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On 12 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Portuguese - 38.707163 -9.135517
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Romanian Centre
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On 4 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Romanian - 44.447924 26.097879
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Russian Centre
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On 5 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Russian - 55.763711 37.61998
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San Miguel de Allende Centre
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read and listen to the poem in...
Spanish - 20.917292 -100.745351
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Sardinian Centre
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On 12 April you can read and listen to the poem in...
Sardinian Italian Catalan Algherese Algherese-Italian Russian English - 40.727165 8.558468
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Scottish Centre
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On 6 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Scots Scottish Gaelic Irish Gaelic - 55.949332 -3.193825
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Senegalese Centre
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On 13 April, you can read the poem in...
Wolof - 14.74208 -17.43978
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Serbian Centre
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On 4 April you can read the poem in...
Serbian - 44.802416 20.465601
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Sierra Leonean Centre
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On 13 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Krio - 8.46966 -13.26589
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Slovak Centre
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On 4 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Slovak - 48.142963 17.109114
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Slovene Centre
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On 4 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Slovene - 46.05456 14.50443
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South African Centre
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On 13 April you can read and listen to the poem in...
Chichewa Hebrew Swahili Lingala French - -34.0030082126 18.458404541
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Suisse Romand Centre
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On 7 April you can read and listen to the poem in...
French On 7 August you can read the poem in...
Vietnamese - 46.20381 6.139959
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Swedish Centre
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On 6 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Swedish Persian - 59.332788 18.064488
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Swiss German Centre
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On 7 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Swiss German - 47.3685943452 8.53843688965
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Swiss-Italian and Reto-Romansh Centre
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On 9 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Italian Romansh - 46.0045932557 8.95523071289
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Tibetan Writers Abroad Centre
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On 21 June you can read
and listen to the poem in...Tibetan - 29.647222 91.145833
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Turkish Centre
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Arrival: 3 April 2008
Read and listen to the poem in...
Turkish - 41.0358589114 28.9839935303
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Ukrainian Centre
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On 5 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Ukrainian - 50.453629 30.503828
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Uyghur Centre (Proposed)
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On 17 June you can read
and listen to the poem in...Uyghur - 43.7978628131 87.6200866699
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Vietnamese Writers Abroad Centre
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On 29 April you can read
and listen to June in...Vietnamese And watch a video performance of it in...
Vietnamese - 38.850088 -77.182669
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Writers in Exile, American Branch
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On 9 April you can read and listen
to the poem in...Hungarian - 41.3108238809 -72.9299926758
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Shi Tao's Hometown
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Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
Shi Tao’s hometownRead and listen to the poem in...
Mandarin - 37.852778 112.529167
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Trieste Centre
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On 7 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Italian - 45.645728284 13.7775421143
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Quebecois Centre
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On 9 April you can read and listen to three
versions of the poem in French and one in
Haitian, and read a fourth version in French...French French French French Haitian - 45.5366557197 -73.6358642578
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Almaty, Kazakhstan
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Arrival: 2 April 2008
Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
Read and listen to the poem in...
Kazakh - 43.2758 76.9292
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Esperanto Centre
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On 7 April, you can read the poem in...
Esperanto - 47.1021480134 6.82903289795
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Haitian Centre
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On 9 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Haitian - 18.539208 -72.328789
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Ugandan Centre
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On 13 April you can read the poem in...
Lusoga - 1.373333 32.290275
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Beijing, China
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Final Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 8 August you can read, listen to and watch
a video recording of the poem in...Mandarin - 39.9044690755 116.391220093
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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 13 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Swahili - -6.81735282262 39.2888259888
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Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 11 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Spanish - -34.5619902976 -58.5094070435
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Somali-speaking Writers Centre
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On 13 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Somali - 2.0677272919 45.3398895264
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Muscat, Oman
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 14 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Arabic - 23.6086 58.5922
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Iranian PEN Centre in Exile (IPCE)
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On 16 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Farsi - 32.4970217756 53.5689926147
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New Delhi, India
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 17 April you can read
and listen to the poem in...Hindi - 28.6333494726 77.2232437134
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 21 April you can read and listen to the poem in...
Malay (Bahasa Melayu) English Hokkien (閩南) Hakka (客家) Teochew (潮州) Cantonese (廣東話) Mandarin (國語) - 3.15021 101.707703
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Taipei, Taiwan
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(Former) Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 1 May you can listen to the poem in...
Taiwan Dialect (閩南) Hakka (客家) Mandarin (國語) - 25.0796909141 121.554107666
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Macao
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 3 May you can listen to the poem in...
Cantonese (廣東話) Mandarin (國語) And read and listen to the poem in...
Portuguese - 22.1826363963 113.537864685
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Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 7 May you can listen to the poem in...
Cantonese (廣東話) - 23.133333 113.320833
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Shenzhen, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 7 May you can listen to the poem in...
Cantonese (廣東話) - 22.541667 114.054167
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Huizhou, Guangdong, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 7 May you can listen to the poem in...
Hakka (客家) Cantonese (广东话) Mandarin (普通话) - 23.091667 114.395833
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Shantou, Guangdong, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 10 May you can listen to the poem in...
Shantou Dialect Cantonese (广东话) Mandarin (普通话) - 23.358333 116.720833
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Fujian, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 11-13 May you can listen to the poem in...
Fuzhou Dialect (福州话） Amoy (厦门话 / 闽南) Teochew (潮州) Hakka (客家) Mandarin (普通话) - 26.075 119.304167
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Shanghai, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 23-24 May you can listen to the poem in...
Shanghainese (上海话） - 31.222222 121.475
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Wuhan, Hubei, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 31 May you can listen to the poem in...
Wuhan Dialect (武汉话) - 30.577778 114.279167
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Guizhou, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 12-14 June you can listen to the poem in...
Guizhou Dialect (贵州话) - 26.566667 106.708333
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Chongqing, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 15-16 June you can listen to the poem in...
Chongqing Dialect (重庆话) - 29.552778 106.545833
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Sichuan, China
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 3 August you can listen to the poem in...
Sichuan Dialect (四川话) - 30.655556 104.0625
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Jakarta, Indonesia
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 5 August you can read the poem in...
Bahasa Indonesian - -6.211544 106.845172
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Danish Centre
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On 30 July you can read the poem in...
Danish - 55.676294 12.568116
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Gascon
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On 31 July you can read
and listen to the poem in...Gascon - 44.55667 -0.249224
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Malta
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On 1 August you can read and
listen to the poem,and watch a
video of it, in...Maltese - 35.937496 14.375416
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Tonga
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On 4 August you can read
and listen to the poem in...Tongan - -21.178986 -175.198242
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Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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On 6 August you can read the poem in...
Bengali - 22.572646 88.363895
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Vietnam
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Beijing Olympic Torch Destination
On 7 August you can read the poem in...
Vietnamese - 10.758 106.6534
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Pretoria Centre
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On 7 August you can read the poem in...
Afirkaans - -25.7419 28.1877
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Lakota Sioux
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On 7 August you can read
and listen to the poem in...Lakota (Sioux) - 43.025634 -102.556364
Click on a location on the map to see when the poem is due.
Yellow pins mark the current location of the poem
Red pins mark previous poem locations
Blue pins mark upcoming poem locations
There may be more than one translation into your language. Type in a language in the search window to locate the translations you want to read and hear.
Juneby Shi Tao My whole life Will never get past “June” June, the scorching sun burns open my skin Translated to English from Chinese by Chip Rolley. Listen to the poem in English |
Listen to the poem in Mandarin |
Sydney Morning Herald: Freedom Relay
