Slow Sailing
Published on 5. June 2022
232 pages
978-961-6995-85-6 (ISBN)
Description
UroS Zupan (1963) is one of Slovenia's most prominent contemporary poets and he has made his mark on Slovenian poetry of the past 30 years. Slow Sailing presents the author's own selection of the best of his best. This collection, which covers a period of more than two dozen years, is both personal and stern, since the author deals with his own poetry. From his delving into the golden age of his individual past to a sensuous hymn to soft summer light and the miracle of life that does not exist without the arts, Slow Sailing invites us to discover and re-discover one of post-independence Slovenia's most distinctive poetic voices, while also offering a unique insight into Slovenian poetry at the turn of the millennium.
The greatest Slovenian poet of the middle generation, his work has not been translated much (and not at all into English); the book is already part of the Slovenian canon and contains Zupan's own selection of his finest poems. He is already included in school literature curricula.
The greatest Slovenian poet of the middle generation, his work has not been translated much (and not at all into English); the book is already part of the Slovenian canon and contains Zupan's own selection of his finest poems. He is already included in school literature curricula.
More details
Persons
UROs ZUPAN, a poet and essayist, was born in 1963 in Trbovlje, Slovenia. He graduated in comparative literature at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He received a numerous national and international awards and prizes including: Best first Collection Award, PreSeren Foundation Award, Jenko Prize, Zupancic Prize, Herman Lenz Award (Langenburg, Germany, 1999), Premio della VI Edizione del Festival Internazionale di Poesia (Genova, Italy, 2000), Wyslawa Szymborska Award (Krakow, Poland, 2016) etc. By now, he has published fourteen poetry collections and eleven books of essays.
He has also translated a number of poets, including Yehuda Amichai, John Ashbery, Aleksandar Ristovic, Abdulah Sidran and Billy Collins. His own work has appeared in numerous languages, books, anthologies and journals. He lives as a free-lance writer with his family and dog in Ljubljana.
He has also translated a number of poets, including Yehuda Amichai, John Ashbery, Aleksandar Ristovic, Abdulah Sidran and Billy Collins. His own work has appeared in numerous languages, books, anthologies and journals. He lives as a free-lance writer with his family and dog in Ljubljana.
Content
Contents
Slow Sailing 11
The Garden: Bach 12
Tractor Drivers Are the Best Philosophers 14
Yellow 16
A Psalm-Magnolias in April Snow 21
Locomotives 25
Rooms 32
The Visible World 34
Sutra 35
Good Friday 36
Leaving the House Where We Made Love 38
A Detail 40
At Home 41
Another Day 42
Hölderlin's Tower 44
Golden Clouds and Time 47
A Review Written in a State of Condescension
and Good Will 49
The Island 52
May 53
Near Rhapsody at Three p.m. 54
Soap 55
American Poets Arriving in Ljubljana 57
Rimbaud 59
A Sonnet in October 62
Almost Harvest Time 63
The Tree and the Sparrow 67
December 71
August Evening 72
The Park 74
Autumn Leaves 1 75
Autumn Leaves 2 85
Puddles 92
Art History for Beginners 94
Shake Before Using 96
1973 98
A Love Letter to My Translator 100
Horizontal Sun 102
Dream Book II 104
Advice for a Brilliant Literary Career 106
The Magic Valley 108
A Drive 110
Farewell to Philosophy 112
Naomi, Linda, Tatjana, Cindy 114
Cranes 116
Amber 118
The End of Summer, Free Composition 120
Southern Portrait 122
The Rare People on Maps of the Coast 124
Noon in Breda 126
Abundance 128
December Sketches 129
Thirty-four 131
Still Life 133
Capriccio 134
Too Serious, UroS 135
Real Old Age and Time 137
A Trip from the Pre-school 138
The Rain 140
Coal 143
Names and Legends 144
Valium 146
The Last Stanza of a Poem Dictated in a Dream 148
The Arrival of Spring 149
Returning Home 151
The Mystic's Tune 153
A Prayer 155
There Will Always Be Sadness 157
Unearthly Fruit 159
Saturation with Words 162
Evening Train 165
Atlantis 167
The Future 170
Those Other Things Always Remain 173
Faith 175
Autobiography 176
Another World 178
Ode to an Australian Shepherd 180
Writing Durable Poems 182
Late Love 184
Tree of Heaven 187
If There Is a Heaven Somewhere 189
The Dog and Summer 190
A Secret Life 192
Essays
Melancholia... Then Again, Maybe Not (A Trick of the Mind) 193
Chrysalis, Caterpillar, Butterfly (On Revising Poems) 197
Richard Jackson
The Metamorphic Vision of UroS Zupan 205
Books by UroS Zupan 217
Litteræ Slovenicæ 1991-2022 221
Slow Sailing 11
The Garden: Bach 12
Tractor Drivers Are the Best Philosophers 14
Yellow 16
A Psalm-Magnolias in April Snow 21
Locomotives 25
Rooms 32
The Visible World 34
Sutra 35
Good Friday 36
Leaving the House Where We Made Love 38
A Detail 40
At Home 41
Another Day 42
Hölderlin's Tower 44
Golden Clouds and Time 47
A Review Written in a State of Condescension
and Good Will 49
The Island 52
May 53
Near Rhapsody at Three p.m. 54
Soap 55
American Poets Arriving in Ljubljana 57
Rimbaud 59
A Sonnet in October 62
Almost Harvest Time 63
The Tree and the Sparrow 67
December 71
August Evening 72
The Park 74
Autumn Leaves 1 75
Autumn Leaves 2 85
Puddles 92
Art History for Beginners 94
Shake Before Using 96
1973 98
A Love Letter to My Translator 100
Horizontal Sun 102
Dream Book II 104
Advice for a Brilliant Literary Career 106
The Magic Valley 108
A Drive 110
Farewell to Philosophy 112
Naomi, Linda, Tatjana, Cindy 114
Cranes 116
Amber 118
The End of Summer, Free Composition 120
Southern Portrait 122
The Rare People on Maps of the Coast 124
Noon in Breda 126
Abundance 128
December Sketches 129
Thirty-four 131
Still Life 133
Capriccio 134
Too Serious, UroS 135
Real Old Age and Time 137
A Trip from the Pre-school 138
The Rain 140
Coal 143
Names and Legends 144
Valium 146
The Last Stanza of a Poem Dictated in a Dream 148
The Arrival of Spring 149
Returning Home 151
The Mystic's Tune 153
A Prayer 155
There Will Always Be Sadness 157
Unearthly Fruit 159
Saturation with Words 162
Evening Train 165
Atlantis 167
The Future 170
Those Other Things Always Remain 173
Faith 175
Autobiography 176
Another World 178
Ode to an Australian Shepherd 180
Writing Durable Poems 182
Late Love 184
Tree of Heaven 187
If There Is a Heaven Somewhere 189
The Dog and Summer 190
A Secret Life 192
Essays
Melancholia... Then Again, Maybe Not (A Trick of the Mind) 193
Chrysalis, Caterpillar, Butterfly (On Revising Poems) 197
Richard Jackson
The Metamorphic Vision of UroS Zupan 205
Books by UroS Zupan 217
Litteræ Slovenicæ 1991-2022 221
