Recently, my Russian tutor had me read this snippet from Russian Modernist poet Nikolay Zabolotsky: … что есть красота и почему её обожествляют люди? Сосуд она, в котором пустота, или огонь, мерцающий в сосуде? Or, loosely translated: … what is beauty and why do we worship it? Is it a vessel for emptiness, or a fire in a vessel, … Read more…
All right, folks, autumn is in full swing (FINALLY!) and I’m back to writing poems. Which means I’m also back to bugging y’all with prompts to get you writing, too. 🙂 Today’s prompt comes from a brief discussion I had over at deviantART about short poetry. I tend to prefer medium-length to long-form poetry, and I’m … Read more…
OK, so, not long ago, I finished my first paid translation project. (Hoorah!) It was a collaborative Russian-to-English project, in which I and two others translated a menu for a Mexican restaurant in our city. (Yes. A Mexican restaurant in Siberia. I recommend it!) Technically, I was the native-speaking “proofreader” rather than the translator. But I put that … Read more…
Well, now autumn has come to Novosibirsk … which means it’s time for poetry again. For whatever reasons, I can’t bring myself to write poetry in the summer. Prose, fine. But the moment I try to sketch out a poem, it usually putters out like an old car running on fumes. Maybe it’s the heat, maybe it’s … Read more…
Let’s do a little experiment. I’ll present you a poem — one of my 100 Themes poems, to be exact — in unpolished form. You take that draft, rewrite it according to your own style and creative fancies, and post it below (in the comments). Sounds a little awkward, perhaps, but bear with me. What … Read more…