Poetry by Anselm Hollo
November 1, 1995 • 6 x 9 • 96 pages • 978-1-56689-039-7
A new collection from the respected poet and translator.
“Ironic in-jokey, post-beat hipster and quietly beautiful lyricist, avant-gardist Hollo (Outlying Districts) graciously draws readers to his work in these poems through both the copious notes supplied with many of them and the gently funny, probing tone assumed throughout. The opening poem ‘1991,’ an elegy to his sister, moves in a moment from dark reflection, ‘At the rites we think of the old days when belief/ made words reach the dead/ a resonance / gone,’ to light, ‘OK Sis/ now of no fixed address in the kingdom of Dis/ Miz Ubi Sunt,’ never failing to carry us along. Hollo often quotes, invokes or directly addresses the poets of his waning generation (Ed Sanders, Robert Creeley, the late Ted Berrigan) or plays himself off poets of all ages and languages, many of whom (Yevtushenko, Brecht, Allen Ginsberg) he has translated into English or Finnish. His preoccupations with literature are woven into reflections in which we spot our more articulate selves; never trite or off-balance, these are poems that sustain.” —Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Anselm Hollo authored more than forty books and was an award-winning translator. He was born in Helsinki, Finland. After ten years in England writing and broadcasting for the BBC European Services, Hollo settled in the United States in 1966. He enthusiastically contributed to the American literary community as a poet, teacher, and award-winning translator. Fluent in German, Swedish, Finnish and English by age ten, Hollo made a significant contribution to modern letters as a translator. Hollo was widely published in little magazines, and his books include Sojourner Microcosms (Blue Wine Press) and No Complaints (Toothpaste Press); his translations include Red Cats (City Lights) and collections by Haavikko (Cape Goliard/Grossman) and Pentti Saarikoski (Toothpaste Press).
Hollo taught at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. His collection of poems, Notes on the Possibilities and Attractions of Existence, received the San Francisco Poetry Center Award.