Poem of the Week by Anya Logvinova

Let's skip to Russia for this week's poem, shall we?

The following is by Anya Logvinova from Contemporary Russian Poetry: an Anthology, edited by Evgeny Bunimovich (Dalkey Arhive, 2008).  This poem was translated by Larissa Shmailo.

The Best Poems, I Swear to God

The best poems, I swear to God,
aren't about unfaithful husbands,  unfaithful wives.
They remind you of a list of things for the road,
essential, beautiful, permitted.

Usually they're about autumn, about white ovens
about how homes are built, how butter is churned.
They are rarely about the fact that everything could be lovely;
they are more often about what we shouldn't mention.

Сигизму́нд Домини́кович Кржижано́вский

Sigizmund Krzhizanovsky is not the name one usually connects with one of the great early twentieth century writers. In his own time Krzhizanovsky was not even known as a great writer in Moscow. Spain's Enrique Vila-Matas could have added him to Bartleby & Co. as a silent writer...

With NYRB's release of Memories of the Future, this is not a likely mistake to occur again.

Krzhizanovsky described himself as being "known for being unknown." Though he was active in Moscow's literary scene of the 20's he was not widely published or read. It wasn't until 1989 that the Russian scholar, Vadim Perelmute, published the first of a series of stories written by Krzhizanovsky. He has now emerged as a leading Soviet writer, though of course, posthumously.

Memories of the Future is the first English translation of Krzhizanovsky's work, and it is incredible. The strangeness in Krzhizanovsky's world, is one that comes through an observation of the mundane and its eventual transformation into the sinister or twisted.

Just knowing that there are 4 more volumes of Krzhizanovsky's work makes me smile inwardly at knowing that there will be more for me to enjoy in the years to come.