A person who has a strong relationship to spoken word and to English, these were the wishes that Amanda Gorman had in the choice of translator for her poem.

Since Jason Diakité is both bilingual and has experience of both performing and writing rap lyrics, the choice fell on him.

- I'm full of admiration for Amanda Gorman.

I feel really honored, he says.

The poem is a spoken word poem, which means that it should be performed with words and not primarily read, which makes him feel close to the lyrics.

- It has lots of alliterations and lots of rhymes so it is very closely related to rap lyrics.

It feels very familiar to me, he says.  

Although he has previously translated plays and children's books, he believes that there are some difficulties.

- The challenge with this was all the rhymes and puns that are not directly translatable.

So maintaining meaning without losing rhythm and rhyme and trying to retain as many puns as possible was the challenge, he says.

"It is built like a battle song"

The content of the text, he says, must be seen in the context of the fact that it was written just for the installation of a new president.

- Her poem captures the context it is in, it is patriotic, it is very patriotic, much more than I think would be acceptable and okay in Sweden, he says. 

The installation ceremony for the new president is always associated with a lot of patriotism and Christian faith, says Jason Diakité.

The term "we" is recurring in the poem.

- It is built a bit like a battle song.

I think much of her intention is precisely to bridge rather than continue to deepen the gaps.

The book will be released in Swedish on March 31 and will be 32 pages long.

See more in the clip above and also hear Jason Diakité read some of the translation.