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Books Published by Plamen Press
News, Events, and Literature in Translation
Vasyl Makhno’s Paper Bridge Featured in Asymptote.
Paper Bridge by Ukrainian poet Vasyl Makhno, translated by Olena Jennings, is featured in an insightful article by Ian Ross Singleton in Asymptote magazine. Bilingual Books – a Personal History:
Farewell and a Handkerchief Featured in Sage Cigarettes Magazine
We are please that Vitezslav Nezval’s Farewell and a Handkerchief was reviewed in Sage Cigarettes Magazine. We thank Nicole Yurcaba for a wonderful review: Oh Those Streets, Cemeteries, and Aquariums!”
Vasyl Makhno’s Paper Bridge Featured in Los Angeles Review of Books
We are pleased to congratulate Vasyl Makhno for a successful review in Los Angeles Review of Book written by Nicole Yurcaba. Click here to read the review
Translation of the Week: Vasyl Makhno “A Yacht Sails at Night”
For this week’s Translation of the Week we feature the poem “A Yacht Sails at Night” from our upcoming publication Paper Bridge, by Ukrainian poet Vasyl Makhno; translated by Olena
Translation of the Week: Baiba Bičole – Two Poems
For today’s Translation of the Week, we would like to present two poems, “Ancestral Mother” and “I am the Skin of a Drum”, from the bilingual collection To Taste the
Karel Kryl Brother, Close the Gate, Will you?
Plamen Press and Sciences has teamed up with the Washington DC Chapter of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences and Baltimore-based Sun King Records, , and a group of international musicians (The Yehla Collective) to record an English version of the legendary song by legendary singer-songwriter and poet Karel Kryl: Bratřícku, zavírej vrátka or Brother, Close the Gate, Will you?. The song is reflective of Kryl’s initial shock, disbelief, and later anger triggered by the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of his country, Czechoslovakia. Karel Kryl was forced into exile in West Germany where he continued to perform and produce songs smuggling them into occupied Czechoslovakia and distributing them through Samizdat. Brother, Close the Gate, Will you? became a symbol of resistance during the 23-year occupation.