Books in Print

all poems are © copyright 1985-2003 Nina Kossman SHAPE OF A WHISPER The shape of a whisper? What else do these bones promise? Lying in wait of some body's love, stretching thin arms, twitching thin nose, witholding kisses with a halting hum, why, they are growing instant shadows! They are developing twisty leaves! Here, in [...]

"Vivid picture of life behind the Iron Curtain." --Booklist "Young readers will identify readily with the impetuous Nina."--Kirkus "13 short pieces...pungently convey the effects of growing up under a totalitarian regime."--Publishers Weekly

"Gods And Mortals is a fascinating collection of poems that brings together the classic and the contemporary, the 'old' and the 'new', in unexpected and startling ways. Nina Kossman has brought together a richly imaginative gathering of memorable work." --Joyce Carol Oates

[The poems in this volume] focus on the richest and most eventful years of Tsvetayeva's life. ... [Tsvetayeva] presents an enormous challenge to a translator, and Kossman demonstrates her respect for the poet by eschewing formal imitation. Her aim, she states, is 'to create readable English poems.' ...she succeeds admirably, through a carefully selective use [...]

all poems are © copyright 1985-2003 Nina Kossman   Видишь, как солнце прячет ловко золотыми руками память о смуглых предках в длинные языческие вазы; тонкие руки солнца, проворные желтые пальцы чтобы мы ничего не знали о спокойных этрусских лицах, о легком этрусском прахе и о зеркале веков между нами и смертью. * * *   [...]

REACTIONS : "...I love your direct, strong, audible translations. You convey the poems as poems....I hear her voice, more of it, and in a new pitch, which makes something clear in her poems that I had only guessed at before." --W.S. Merwin "...You do wonders with a poet nearly impossible to translate. I'm impressed." --Charles [...]