Publisher's Synopsis
A Fine Line: New Poetry from Eastern and Central Europe
Arc Publications Translations Series (parallel-text)
A bilingual anthology, with a preface by Václav Havel, published by Arc Publications in association with the UK-based international organisation Literature Across Frontiers, presenting the new poetic talent from ten Eastern and Central European countries.
The poets included in the anthology are as follows:
Georgi Gospodinov and Nadezhda Radulova (Bulgaria)
Petr Borkovec and Katerina Rudcenkova (Czech Republic)
Kristiina Ehin and Akso Künnap (Estonia)
János Térey and Krisztina Tóth (Hungary)
Karlis Verdins and Sergeij Timofeyev (Latvia)
Daiva Cepauskaite and Rimvydas Stankevicius (Lithuania)
Agnieszka Kuciak and Edward Pasewicz (Poland)
Emilian Galaicu-Paun and Ioana Nicolaie (Romania)
Katarina Kucbelová and Martin Solotruk (Slovakia)
Primoz Cucnik and Taja Kramberger (Slovenia)
"This is wonderfully sovereign poetry. These writers were mostly students or even at school when their Communist regimes perished; the war and the post-war Stalinist terror happened to their grandparents. Their poise and their self-possession are startling; they seldom lament and have no interest in preaching. The encounter with Western abundance gives them fresh imagery, but also grounds for amusement and irony."
"From their part of Europe, they bring a special joy in the natural and physical world, and also glittering metaphysical brilliance. This is a poetry of wit and complexity, never raw but always glowing with human feeling. As for the translators, it's impossible to praise them too highly. Imaginative, sensitive and yet loyal to the texts, it is they who have delivered this treasure intact to new readers."
- Neal Ascherson
