Russian poet Osip Mandelstam’s “ancient language” is rendered into real contemporary poetry in English that succeeds in speaking eloquently to the inner eye and ear.
Jim Kates
Theater Commentary: Is It the Right Time for “Our Town”?
These days, I’m not in a mood to be comforted in the theater by either toasting or roasting chestnuts.
Poetry Review: Maureen N. McLane’s “More Anon” — Lots of Existential Fun
Her poems are sassy.
Poetry Review: “Beowulf & Beyond” — A Rousing Night Out with Old English
Translator Dan Veach invites us to “pull up a bench in the mead hall, grab a brew, and enjoy a jazzy new performance.”
Book Review: “In Memory of Memory” — Riven Recollections
It is the loss of memories and the meaning of memory that dominate, generating speculations that draw the reader into and through Maria Stepanova’s argument and interpretations.
Poetry Review: Paul Celan — The Anguish of Writing in a “Damaged” Tongue
Poet Paul Celan has come to embody in person and in print the agonies of a half century of European culture.
Poetry Review: Henri Cole’s “Blizzard” — Writing as an Act of Revenge
In Henri Cole’s best poems, the outside and the inside interpenetrate and merge.
Poetry and Prose Review: Joseph Brodsky — Revisiting an Icon
For a generation of Russians, Joseph Brodsky was the poet, almost a code-word in the discourse of the intelligentsia, like Nabokov.
Poetry Review: “The Mother House” — Poems with the Demeanor of Nuns
In these poems, contemplation, serenity, and service are the order of the day.
Theater Review: “Robert Frost: This Verse Business” — Friendly to a Fault
The overall effect is one of a genial, superficial club lecture on reading and writing poetry, punctuated by Frost’s Greatest Hits.