As I Said

Lev Loseff author G S Smith translator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Arc Publications

Published:30th May '12

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As I Said cover

These poems are written from across Lev Loseff's life, contemplating his native Russia from both a literal and a figurative distance, while at the same time casting a sometimes jaundiced eye on the alien culture of America in which he spent the final years of his life. Loseff's poetry excels in complex imagery, rich literary allusion, and is abundant in formal experiment. Whether absorbed by the world of literature (particularly his fellow poets) or relating real-life experiences, Loseff conjures up a restless and frequently disturbing universe in this unusual collection. "His poetry is full of intellectual high-wire acts. Every poem is like a circus turn, under the big top and without a net. In poetry like this there is nothing either natural or unnatural, but only past-mastery." Alexandr Genis

"Smith's translations are a labour of love and skill, nowhere better seen than in the palindromic "Toilette" or the many instances of terza rima. Tonally and emotionally, they are perfectly pitched. Such formal and verbal precision reminds us, as does Smith himself in a smartly concise preface, that translation estranges us from the original. Linguistic and prosodic fidelity of the most scrupulous kind are estimable virtues, but the forms of poetry are also the forms of thought and emotion. Poets in the English and American traditions would hear their own thoughts and emotions according to a different music and different traditions. To read Lev Loseff in these brilliant translations is to come as close as possible to hearing Russian poetry in the English language, and that is no mean feat." Andrew Kahn, TLS May 2013

ISBN: 9781904614838

Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 9mm

Weight: 209g

158 pages