Description
Komelj’s work was first suggested to the translators by Tomaž Šalamun--who is one of only two or three Slovenian poets known on the international stage--with a particularly strong following in English translation across the U.S. Šalamun is historically reticent to heap praise, but in Komelj he sees the future of Slovene and contemporary world poetry. Despite the natural divides between English and Slovene, throughout the work there are echoes of a familiar American modernism in Komelj’s polyglot, esoteric references, and in his sense of himself as embedded in an international tradition. William Carlos Williams is perhaps the best American modernist comparison because, like Williams, Komelj is a bit of a chimera: his book includes imagistic lyrics, pastiches of quotes, persona poems, political polemics, and a reasonably faithful translation of Seneca. He references Futurist operas, NATO military action, personal friends, and literary and artistic heroes. His view is wide and deep, but throughout this book, and despite all these shifts in attention and approach, he builds a stable, unique vision.
