Reaching back as far as medieval Rus and as far forward as metrical and
linguistic innovation permit, Sosnora has written with a voice unique
and wideranging. Historical allusion, conscious anachronism, humor, and
intensity of word play dominate by turns his range of verse.
Viktor Sosnora was born in 1936 in the Crimea. He is known as one of the
most consistently experimental of Russian poets, and one of the foremost
translators, into Russian, of Catullus, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe,
and Allen Ginsberg.
Mark Halperin teaches at Central Washington University. His latest book
of poems, The Measure of Islands, was published by Wesleyan.
Dinara Georgeoliani is a linguist and Assistant Professor of Russian
at Central Washington University.