These poems belong to the latest period of Serhiy Zhadan's body of work. As the poet stated a few years ago, his oeuvre may be divided into two parts: 1) work written before the year 2014; and, 2) work written after 2014, the year war broke out in Ukraine. These poems deal with the eternal questions (and quests): home, exile, solitude, love, and faith. These poems also demonstrate unpredictable interactions between people and their native realms. This might be of interest to those who study how poetry observes and mirrors the shifts within a society going through very challenging and, at times, life-changing circumstances, but offers solace as well.
- John Hennessy and Ostap Kin
Novel (excerpt) | Ukraine | Ukrainian
August, 2010Natalka Sniadanko is one of the most vibrant voices in Eastern Europe today. Translated into German, Polish, Russian, and Spanish, Sniadanko is also a translator herself, with such credits as Czesław Miłosz, Günter Grass, and Franz Kafka under her belt. She has received several prestigiuos residencies and fellowships in both Poland and Germany, and her work is marked by her travels. Ever sharp, ever sensitive, Sniadanko possesses a wit and perspicacity that render each of her sentences sparkling and all of her interests contagious. Her first novel, The Passion Collection, funny and touching by turn, tells the story of a young Ukrainian woman falling in love with philology while also experiencing her first crushes and first love affairs. She has published a total of four books in Ukraine since that first, in 2001, and has appeared widely in literary journals and newspapers across Central Europe. At still under forty years old, Sniadanko is a writer to watch and to savor.
The Brooklyn Rail welcomes you to our web-exclusive section InTranslation, where we feature unpublished translations of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and dramatic writing.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We seek exceptional unpublished English translations from all languages.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).
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