A Little Tour Through European Poetry

by John Taylor

Overview

This book is both a sequel to author John Taylor's earlier volume Into the Heart of European Poetry and something different. It is a sequel because this volume expands upon the base of the previous book to include many more European poets. It is different in that it is framed by stories in which the author juxtaposes his personal experiences involving European poetry or European poets as he travels through different countries where the poets have lived or worked. Taylor explores poetry from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania, Albania, Romania, Turkey, and Portugal, all of which were missing in the previous gathering, analyzes heady verse written in Galician, and presents an important poet born in the Chuvash Republic. His tour through European poetry also adds discoveries from countries whose languages he reads fluently-Italy, Germany (and German-speaking Switzerland), Greece, and France. Taylor's model is Valery Larbaud, to whom his criticism, with its liveliness and analytical clarity, is often compared. Readers will enjoy a renewed dialogue with European poetry, especially in an age when translations are rarely reviewed, present in literary journals, or studied in schools. This book, along with Into the Heart of European Poetry, motivates a dialogue by bringing foreign poetry out of the specialized confines of foreign language departments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412854832
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	11/30/2014
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Taylor

Table of Contents

Preface

1. On the Strassenbahn with Klaus Merz's Poetry
2. Friedrich Ho;lderlin, Our Contemporary
3. German Poetry beyond Rilke, Benn, and Brecht
4. The Unexpected Compassion of Gottfried Benn
5. Reading Contemporary Poetry in Weimar
6. Translating Swiss Poetry in Looren
7. The Italian Poets Are Coming!
8. Meeting up with Lorenzo Calogero in Florence
9. "Guardami, dimmi, e cosi per te": Alfredo de Palchi
10. Sandro Penna's Secret Poems
11. The Dark of Love: Patrizia Cavalli
12. Poetic Ljubljana
13. Edvard Kocbek, Emmanuel Mounier, the French Review Esprit, and Personalism
14. Questions of Daily Life and Beyond: Milan Djordjevi
15. The Tiger Is the World: Tomislav Marijan Bilosni
16. The Unshackling of Albanian Poetry
17. Standing by Pointlessness: Kiki Dimoula
18. Manolis Xexakis's Captain Super Priovolos: Notes for an Exegesis
19. A Panorama of Turkish Love Poetry: Birhan Keskin and Other Contemporary Women Poets
20. The Seventh Gesture: Tsvetanka Elenvoka
21. The Wonder-like Lightning of Prose Poetry
22. Love According to Luca
23. Discovering Benjamin Fondane
24. The Desire to Affirm: George Szirtes
25. Prague as a Poem: Vitzslav Nezval and Emil Hakl
26. A Rather Late Letter from Wrocaw
27. The Self and Its Selves: A Journey through Poetic Northern Climes
28. The Russian Poets Are Coming!
29. The Five Angles of the Golden Rectangle: Tomas Venclova
30. Telling Dichotomies: Maria do Cebreiro and Kristiina Ehin
31. The Metaphysics of the Kiss: Vicente Aleixandre
32. A Spanish Metaphysical Poet Searching for Songs of Truth: Jose angel Valente
33. The Passion and the Patience of Eugenio de Andrade
34. The Past Hour, the Present Hour: Yves Bonnefoy

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Taylor is a multilingual American poet and scholar long resident in France, an eminent translator, and a widely published book reviewer. Like his other books—including Into the Heart of European Poetry—this one collects and revises some of Taylor's previously published criticism into a varied, thoughtful sampling of recent Continental literature. . . . He quotes plentifully, reads closely, and, since most of the poems treated are in English, he unpacks the translations, deftly. Dozens of little-known authors are introduced and commented on, as are a few more recognizable, like Vicente Aleixandre, Gottfried Benn, and Yves Bonnefoy. Many of the books cited are from small presses, so the extensive bibliography is especially helpful. . . . Highly recommended. All readers." —M. Kasper, Choice "Maybe poetry tourism is the next big thing; with John Taylor as our guide, it’s a pleasure and a delight. A Little Tour through European Poetry is his second go-round leading an excursion on and off beaten paths to sample what current and recent European poets have been doing (Into the Heart of European Poetry was the title of his first jaunt). The new trip takes the form of 34 chapters, short essays really, detailing Taylor’s adventures tracking down poets, their work, and their milieus. He visits and interviews many poets at conferences and readings. He visits the homes and haunts of poets no longer with us. Some of the most memorable moments involve his personal misadventures with hotels or travel connections. It’s criticism as travel writing, and it’s a lot of fun." —Merrill Kaitz, The Arts Fuse “A Little Tour Through European Poetry offers college-level literary readers a sequel to Taylor's previous volume Into the Heart of European Poetry, and expands the theme to include more poets and discussions of the author's personal experience and travels as he surveys the origins of their works. Poetry of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania, Rumania and other countries were missing from the first discussion and are included here, with chapters enhanced by the author's own ability to read many languages fluently. The result is a fine survey highly recommended for any pursuing European poetry's roots.” —California Bookwatch "Gives American readers (and poets) an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with contemporary European poetry, especially today when the translation of poetry is published so rarely, is so rarely present in literary journals and rarely taught in schools of creative writing." —Akademija-Art "Not to be missed!" —Asymptote

From the Publisher