“Words aren't precise. They're vulnerable. When I work through a line of Mazwai I'm never sure I've really understood her meaning; and if I have her meaning, do I have her intention? My reading is always a translation, a shift from her viewpoint to mine. Misinterpretations happen. But that weakness of words is also their great strength. Words survive. They adapt to new places and new times. They find new expressions. Old words solve new problems.”