The collection features lyrical texts by Russian poet Anna Glazova, showcasing her work from the past seven years. Translated by Anna Khasin in collaboration with Glazova, the poems reflect a deep, nuanced understanding of the poet's voice and themes. This unique partnership enhances the emotional depth and authenticity of the translations, offering readers an intimate glimpse into Glazova's poetic world.
Glazova invites us to perceive the unfolding natural world with all our senses―a bee, a swamp, the icy north―and to consider our place in it.Her concise and sensory poems elucidate not just a moment in nature, but the flow of time. A snow-covered bud, a clod of earth, an animal’s fur, and human beings are all part of a continuous cycle of life and death. Glazova is also a photographer, and light, shadow, and darkness filter through these poems. But listening is as important as “put your ear to the the log and the bark beetle / sing as one―they begin.”Glazova came of age during perestroika, moved to Germany as a young woman, and received her doctorate in the U.S. Her poetry is strongly influenced by Paul Celan, whose work she has translated to Russian.