This pocket-sized paperback is one of the twenty-two titles published for 2015 Hong Kong International Poetry Nights. The theme of IPHHK2015 is “Poetry and Conflict”. 21 international poets from 18 different places are invited to participate in recitations, symposia and sharing sessions of the Poetry Nights. A recitation focusing on 10 local Hong Kong poets, “Hong Kong Cantonese Poetry Night” is included. This collection seeks to make accessible the best of contemporary international poetry with outstanding translations.
Nikola Madzirov (poet, essayist, and translator) was born into a family of Balkan War refugees in Macedonia, ex-Yugoslavia. He is author of several books including Relocated Stone (2007), which received the Hubert Burda European Award. He won the Miladinov Brothers Award at the Struga Poetry Evenings and was granted the International Writing Program (IWP) fellowship at the University of Iowa, the DAAD fellowship in Berlin, and the Marguerite Yourcenar fellowship in France. Madzirov’s work has been translated into 40 languages. He is one of the coordinators at the international poetry network Lyrikline.
We’ll meet one day, like a paper boat and a watermelon that’s been cooling in the river. The anxiety of the world will be with us. Our palms will eclipse the sun and we’ll approach each other holding lanterns.
One day, the wind won’t change direction. The birch will send away leaves into our shoes on the doorstep. The wolves will come after our innocence. The butterflies will leave their dust on our cheeks.
An old woman will tell stories about us in the waiting room every morning. Even what I’m saying has been said already: we’re waiting for the wind like two flags on a border.