Reft and Light

Poetry. Fourth in Burning Deck’s Dichten = series of current German writing in English translation, REFT AND LIGHT presents a series of exuberant, playful language experiments by the well-known German poet. In an unusual twist, each poem is rendered in multiple English versions by some of America’s most daring poets and translators. As editor Rosmarie Waldrop explains, Ernst Jandl’s poems are so engrained in the German language that they are impossible to translate… [These] adaptations range from close imitations to freewheeling versions that continue Jandl’s thinking into other semantic areas. Contributors include Charles Bernstein, Lee Ann Brown, Norma Cole, Ray DiPalma, Kenward Elmslie, Anselm Hollo, Damon Krukowski, Gale Nelson, Joan Retallack, James Sherry, Cole Swensen, Keith Waldrop, Rosmarie Waldrop, Craig Watson, Marjorie Welish, and others.