The Little Box

Vasko Popa was one of Europe's most significant and exciting twentieth-century poets; a pre-war surrealist, the channelling of his experiences of war and imprisonment brought him to the forefront of a literary flowering in Yugoslavia. In poems of object and symbol he draws myth, folk belief, charms, riddles and spells into limpid conjunction, and his famous cycles of poems, such as The Quartz Pebble, are miniature epic works, each creating 'the terms of a universe'. He blends surrealism and an awareness of war and post-war experiences to create utterly distinctive and original poetry.

In 2022, the centenary of his birth, Carcanet is publishing a new Selected to introduce this poet, described by Ted Hughes as 'a Universe passing through a Universe', to a new generation of readers.