The Golden Apple
A Round of Stories, Songs, Spells, Proverbs and Riddles
Published on 8. April 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
104 pages
978-0-85646-419-5 (ISBN)
Description
A delightful selection from one of the richest traditions of folk literature in Europe. The universal qualities of these poems, stories, riddles and proverbs will appeal to a wide range of readers, including children. Since Yugoslav folklore is so much a part of Vasko Popa's own poetic world, readers of his poetry will find the book especially rewarding for the insight into his sources which it provides.
In making his original compilation, Popa followed his own poetic taste, gathering pieces he himself loved, and finding 'great joy in bringing the little-known and undervalued beauties of old riddles, proverbs, spells and counting-rhymes out of the shadows into daylight.' Translatability has been the key factor in making this English selection, which is illustrated with traditional Serbian rug motifs. The vitality of Popa's material is wonderfully conveyed in this adaptation by Andrew Harvey and Anne Pennington.
In making his original compilation, Popa followed his own poetic taste, gathering pieces he himself loved, and finding 'great joy in bringing the little-known and undervalued beauties of old riddles, proverbs, spells and counting-rhymes out of the shadows into daylight.' Translatability has been the key factor in making this English selection, which is illustrated with traditional Serbian rug motifs. The vitality of Popa's material is wonderfully conveyed in this adaptation by Andrew Harvey and Anne Pennington.
Reviews / Votes
'Throughout there is the sense of the unadorned, unrationalized essence of folk tradition - This book entertains and startles afresh on each reading.' - Michael Cayley, PN Review ' - an absolute delight. The tales fly along relentlessly to their enigmatic endings, mixing up the ridiculous, the miraculous and the commonplace, putting to shame the puerile moralizing of many modern children's books. The irrational is sitting in the trees waiting to leap upon you - ' - George Szirtes, QuartoMore details
Series
Edition
Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Manchester
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Carcanet Press Ltd
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 213 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
159 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-85646-419-5 (9780856464195)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Vasko Popa (1922-1991) was born in the Banat district of Yugoslavia. During World War II he fought with a partisan group; afterwards he studied in Vienna and Bucharest before completing his education at the University of Belgrade. He was elected to the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1972 and to the Parisian Academie Mallarme in 1977. He visited Britain on several occasions, attending the London Poetry International and Cambridge Poetry Festivals. He was widely regarded not only as the greatest poet of the Serbo-Croat language but as a poet of towering European stature. He lived in Belgrade where he worked as an editor for the publishers Nolit from 1954 until 1979.
Andrew Harvey was born in 1952 in South India. At 21 he became the youngest person ever to be awarded a fellowship to All Soul's College, Oxford. He is an internationally renowned religious scholar, writer, teacher, and the author of more than 30 books. See: www.andrewharvey.net
Anne Pennington (1934-1981) was a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford where she held the university's Chair of Comparative Slavonic Philology. Her translations include Poems by Blaze Koneski (1979) and Vasko Popa's anthology The Golden Apple (Anvil, 1980 and 2010), both with Andrew Harvey; Marko the Prince: Serbo-Croat Heroic Songs (1984) with Peter Levi; and Vasko Popa's Complete Poems (Anvil, 2011).
Andrew Harvey was born in 1952 in South India. At 21 he became the youngest person ever to be awarded a fellowship to All Soul's College, Oxford. He is an internationally renowned religious scholar, writer, teacher, and the author of more than 30 books. See: www.andrewharvey.net
Anne Pennington (1934-1981) was a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford where she held the university's Chair of Comparative Slavonic Philology. Her translations include Poems by Blaze Koneski (1979) and Vasko Popa's anthology The Golden Apple (Anvil, 1980 and 2010), both with Andrew Harvey; Marko the Prince: Serbo-Croat Heroic Songs (1984) with Peter Levi; and Vasko Popa's Complete Poems (Anvil, 2011).