AGNI 56
Contents
Editor's Note
Poetry
Odeon
by Ed Barrett
from Prayers: 1
Translated from the Ukrainian by Bohdan Rubchak and Askold Melnyczuk
Letter to the American Poet Gregory Corso
Translated from the Hungarian by Len Roberts and László Vértes
Poem
by Eric Hoffman
Tock
by Mark Irwin
For the Homeland
Translated from the Turkish by Richard Schwarzenberger and Grace Martin Smith
The Sun Singers
by Bei Ling
Translated from the Chinese by Tony Barnstone, Willis Barnstone, and Xi Chuan
Likeness of My Father in His Youth
Translated from the German by William Harmon
The Threat of Another New England Winter and a Faltering Economy Drives Me Deep into the Woods
by Ira Sadoff
A Few Words on the Soul
Translated from the Polish by Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh
The River
Translated from the Vietnamese by Martha Collins and Nguyen Quang Thieu
from The Wooden Horse
Translated from the Spanish by Martín Espada and Camilo Pérez-Bustillo
Featured Poet: Michael Milburn
Poetry
Our mammoth, 480-page Thirtieth Anniversary Poetry Anthology, containing superb original work by over 240 contributors to AGNI since 1972. From the most famous poets—Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, Wislawa Szymborska, Joseph Brodsky, Adrienne Rich, Odysseas Elytis, Rita Dove, Eugenio Montale, and Ai—to those you’ve never heard of but will soon wish you had, the work in this issue, the last to be edited by Founding Editor Askold Melnyczuk, comprises a milestone compendium of the energy and scope of American poets and translators over the past three decades.
Editor
Sven Birkerts
Sven Birkerts
Founding Editor
Askold Melnyczuk
Askold Melnyczuk
Managing Editor
Eric Grunwald
Eric Grunwald
Advisory Board
Leslie Epstein
Robert Pinsky
Derek Walcott
Leslie Epstein, Robert Pinsky, Derek Walcott
Art Editor
Gerry Bergstein
Gerry Bergstein
Music Editor
Eric Chasalow
Eric Chasalow
Editor Emerita
Sharon Dunn
Sharon Dunn
Editorial Assistants
Liz Behrend
Nate Beyer
Darcie DeAngelo
Katie Krell
Scarlett Stoppa
Liz Behrend, Nate Beyer, Darcie DeAngelo, Katie Krell, Scarlett Stoppa
Contributing Editors
Thomas Bahr
Erin Belieu
Sven Birkerts
Lucie Brock-Broido
John J. Clayton
William Corbett
Stuart Dischell
Sharon Dunn
Thomas Sayers Ellis
Marie Howe
Diana Der-Hovanessian
Ha Jin
Alex Johnson
Susan Johnson
Fred Marchant
Fiona McCrae
Gail Mazur
Joe Osterhaus
Dzvinia Orlowsky
George Packer
Solomea Pavlychko
Liam Rector
Scott Ruescher
George Scialabba
Tom Sleigh
Sue Standing
Rosanna Warren
Oksana Zabuzhko
Thomas Bahr, Erin Belieu, Sven Birkerts, Lucie Brock-Broido, John J. Clayton, William Corbett, Stuart Dischell, Sharon Dunn, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Marie Howe, Diana Der-Hovanessian, Ha Jin, Alex Johnson, Susan Johnson, Fred Marchant, Fiona McCrae, Gail Mazur, Joe Osterhaus, Dzvinia Orlowsky, George Packer, Solomea Pavlychko, Liam Rector, Scott Ruescher, George Scialabba, Tom Sleigh, Sue Standing, Rosanna Warren, Oksana Zabuzhko