What We Are When We Are: Kaj smo, ko sm

by Cvetka Lipus, Tom Priestly (Translator)

Overview

Working within a postmodern style, this rhythmic and melodious collection of poems originally written in Slovenian by Cvetka Lipuš and translated here by Tom Priestly, blends the real with the surreal, dull urban lives with dreams. Lipuš, known for the lexical beauty of her work, dwells on topics of time and space which she handles in an almost revolving, irreverent manner. Priestly captures the maze-like characteristic of her verse and carefully reconstructs the sonoric beauty of the work in its original language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771992510
Publisher:	Athabasca University Press
Publication date:	09/30/2018
Series:	Mingling Voices
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	104
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Born in Austria, Cvetka Lipuš is the author of seven collections of poetry in Slovenian. Kaj smo, ko smo(2015), for which Lipuš received the Prešeren Foundation Award, was short-listed for the Veronika Prize, the most prestigious poetry prize in Slovenia. Tom Priestly is professor emeritus in the Department of Modern Languages and Culture Studies at the University of Alberta and the author of numerous translations including Jani Virk's The Last Temptation of Sergiy (2016).
Tom Priestly is professor emeritus in the Department of Modern Languages and Culture Studies at the University of Alberta and the author of numerous translations including Jani Virk’s The Last Temptation of Sergiy (2016).
Born in Austria, Cvetka Lipuš is the author of seven collections of poetry in Slovenian. Kaj smo, ko smo (2015), for which Lipuš received the Prešeren Foundation Award, was shortlisted for the Veronika Prize, Slovenia’s most prestigious poetry prize.

Read an Excerpt

To-do list

First thing in the morning I check you off the list,
for you are still asleep. Together the sun and I
make our rounds, we add up the streets in our district,
I subtract the one with a dog. During the meeting,
engrossed in a game of Battleships, when someone says “A 4”
the project goes belly-up. After lunch I throw in
the towel, so that all afternoon I am counting
the threads and strands. On the way home
I pop into the store for merchandise into which
I put my efforts. My legs find their way into
a nearby bar: there people I know
balance up the empty years and the full
glasses into an odd number. When I get back,
you are half asleep. Drowsily you look over
your own list and cross me off.

Table of Contents

Foreword • Donna Kane

Odprti konec / Open End
Regrets / Regrets
Jutranja vožnja / Morning Journey
Kaj bi / What If
Zaposlitev / Employment
Sanje / The Dream
Dediščina / Inheritance
Vdova / The Widow
Deseti januar / January Tenth
Koncert za glas in nebo / Concerto for Voice and Sky
Težki od časa / Heavy with Time
Naj sonce ne zaide nad jezo / Let Not the Sun Go Down on Your Anger
Slovo / Saying Goodbye
Nespečnost / Sleeplessness
Novi naslov / The New Address
Poglej nas, kako lebdimo / Watch Us Float
Obisk / The Visit
Noč z grozo v gobcu / A Night with a Threat in Its Muzzle
Vodič / Guide
Gibalo / Perpetuum Mobile
Kje si, ko si / Where You Are When You Are
Negovanje / Caring
Prehod / Passage
Počitnice / Holidays
Lake Mendota / Lake Mendota
Pogled zavesti / The Look of Consciousness
Dreams Limited / Dreams Limited
To-Do List / To-Do List
Prijavni urad / The Registration Office
Na levem boku dneva / On the Port Side of the Day
Drago življenje, / Dear Life,
Čakanje / Waiting

Afterword • Tomaž Toporišič
About the Author and Translator