Poetry | Poland/Denmark | Polish
January, 2014The new poems featured here contain the characteristic features of Wróblewski's verse: urban context, surreal perspective, expressionistic intensity, epigrammatic concision. They highlight his encyclopedic knowledge of literature and culture (with which they remain in dialogue), his fascination with science, technology, and new modes of communication, and his profound understanding of contemporary politics. In his preface to Dwie Kobiety nad Atlantykiem, Polish literary scholar Krzysztof Hoffman establishes Wróblewski's two current preoccupations: the idea of "planetary power" (as in the poem "Tests on Monkeys") and "the condition of everyday life." But these poems also announce the presence of a new element in Wróblewski's work: a more extensive than ever before use of borrowed material (as demonstrated here by poems like "Renoir and Van Gogh" and "Makamba"). A major technique of conceptual writing, especially as practiced by today's North American writers like Vanessa Place and Kenneth Goldsmith, here the use of appropriated language acquires a distinctly European flavor.
- Piotr Gwiazda
The Brooklyn Rail welcomes you to our web-exclusive section InTranslation, where we feature unpublished translations of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. Published since April 2007, InTranslation is a venue for outstanding work in translation and a resource for translators, authors, editors, and publishers seeking to collaborate.
We seek exceptional unpublished English translations from all languages.
Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry: Manuscripts of no longer than 20 pages (double-spaced).
Plays: Manuscripts of no longer than 30 pages (in left-justified format).