Poetry from the Edge of Europe with Paulann Petersen, Paul Merchant, and Kelly Lenox Friday, February 25th

Poetry from the Edge of Europe

Paulann Petersen, Oregon's Poet Laureate, is joined by Paul Merchant and Kelly Lenox, both poets and translators, for an evening of contemporary poetry from Slovenia, Greece, and Turkey. Petersen will read poems by the great Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, along with poems she’s written for Hikmet. Merchant will read from his new book of translations from the Greek: poems by Ritsos about Cavafy. Lenox will read from her translations of Slovenian poet Maja Vidmar. This is the first in an occasional series highlighting local translators, writers, and publishers of literature from around the world.

Friday, February 25th @ 7pm
Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd. (800) 878-7323

The poets presented here, from the eastern edge of Europe, remind us of how very different the cultures and experiences of this world can be, and yet how very much we have in common. Kelly Lenox, poet and translator, will read selections from her translation of Rooms (Sobe), the most recent book by Maja Vidmar, a contemporary Slovenian poet whose work has won every major award in that country. Paul Merchant, director of the William Stafford Archives at Lewis and Clark College, will read from his translations of Yannis Ritsos, one of the greatest 20th century Greek poets, as well as an activist and member of the resistance in World War 2. Paulann Petersen, Oregon’s Poet Laureate, will read translations of Nazim Hikmet as well as a few of her own poems about him. Hikmet was a 20th century Turkish poet who spent much of his adult life in prison.