Artikel
Welcome to Ukrainian poetry - May 2005
18 januari 2006
Subjectivism is the editor’s use of his professional critical receptors in selecting those individuals who resonate most with literary and extra-literary contemporaneity, in Ukraine and beyond its borders. We aspire to reflect the most complete image of poetic contemporaneity, forming its mosaic from fragments that are the most eloquent, most notable and most resonating.
Vasyl Makhno, in our opinion, became such a figure with the publication of his last collection. Having been a rather prolific and active poet – prior to leaving for New York in 2000, he had published four poetry collections, compiled an anthology, and written literary criticism – he nevertheless always remained in the shadows of the mainstream of Ukrainian poetry. He was one of many self-enamored young poets who actively played with poetic modernism, using it as a place to hide from life.
The move to New York made a mark on the poet’s life and work. Having gone through desperation and disappointment, Vasyl Makhno acquired a priceless skill – the ability to unearth and see poetry in the simplest and most everyday things. And at the same time, he maintained this complex and somewhat painful feeling of boundary, of continuously unfinished passage, which allows one to pose complex questions, so necessary for the poet. Having stopped being a Ukrainian poet in the narrow sense of the word, and having gone beyond the boundaries of, in his own words, “the Ukrainian ghetto”, Makhno became one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Ukrainian poetry.
Hope to see you in August! The Ukrainian domain is made possible by the generous support of the Royal Dutch Embassy in Ukraine.
The interviews and introductions in this edition were translated and edited by Olena Jennings, Christina Redko and Vitaly Chernetsky.
Early May . . . one day soon will complete two years since the appearance of the strange letter ‘Ґ’, which symbolizes Ukraine on the pages of Poetry International Web. This event two years ago was not accompanied by thunderous celebrations, fireworks and recitations of Ukrainian poetry on the streets and squares of capitals around the world. It all took place very quietly, because poetry, after all, is something very quiet, which tries to stay as far away as possible from crowded streets and squares.
All the more so because, during these two years a rather dangerous process was quietly taking place on the pages of the Ukrainian domain – the creeping subjectivisation of poetry. The translators themselves were subjective when they, as a result of their own preferences and tastes – and perhaps somewhat as a reflection of their skills – drew from the complete works of a certain poet for their translations. And steadfastly subjective in the selection of poets and in the manner of their introduction was, and remains, the editor of the Ukrainian domain, defending subjectivity as a principle for the critical treatment of creative writing in general. Subjectivism is the editor’s use of his professional critical receptors in selecting those individuals who resonate most with literary and extra-literary contemporaneity, in Ukraine and beyond its borders. We aspire to reflect the most complete image of poetic contemporaneity, forming its mosaic from fragments that are the most eloquent, most notable and most resonating.
Vasyl Makhno, in our opinion, became such a figure with the publication of his last collection. Having been a rather prolific and active poet – prior to leaving for New York in 2000, he had published four poetry collections, compiled an anthology, and written literary criticism – he nevertheless always remained in the shadows of the mainstream of Ukrainian poetry. He was one of many self-enamored young poets who actively played with poetic modernism, using it as a place to hide from life.
The move to New York made a mark on the poet’s life and work. Having gone through desperation and disappointment, Vasyl Makhno acquired a priceless skill – the ability to unearth and see poetry in the simplest and most everyday things. And at the same time, he maintained this complex and somewhat painful feeling of boundary, of continuously unfinished passage, which allows one to pose complex questions, so necessary for the poet. Having stopped being a Ukrainian poet in the narrow sense of the word, and having gone beyond the boundaries of, in his own words, “the Ukrainian ghetto”, Makhno became one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Ukrainian poetry.
Hope to see you in August! The Ukrainian domain is made possible by the generous support of the Royal Dutch Embassy in Ukraine.
The interviews and introductions in this edition were translated and edited by Olena Jennings, Christina Redko and Vitaly Chernetsky.
© Kateryna Botanova
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère