The magpie in the Joshua trees
Has come to rest. Darkness collects,
And what I cannot hear or see,
Broken limbs, the curious bird,
Become in darkness darkness too.
from ”Premonition at Twilight“
Phil Levine, On the Edge, 1963
The same and not quite the same,
I walked through oak forests
Amazed that my Muse, Mnemosyne,
Has in no way diminished my amazement.
A magpie was screeching and I said: Magpiety?
What is magpiety? I shall never achieve
A magpie heart, a hairy nostril over the beak, a flight
That always renews just when coming down,
And so I shall never comprehend magpiety.
from "Magpiety"
Czesław Miłosz
translated with Peter Dale Scott
Marius Katiliškis's 1957 masterpiece of rural Lithuanian life, Fall Comes from the Forest, translated by Birutė Vaičjurgis Šležas, is now available online and by special order in any bookstore. Ask your local library to acquire a copy. See an excerpt here.
by Saulius Šaltenis
Bees on the Snow (original title Kalės vaikai) by Saulius Šaltenis is now out and available at your local bookstore, as well as online outlets. See the book announcement here. Reviews are starting to come in—links available on our REVIEWS page.
If you're a blogger and would be interested in reviewing our books, write with your name and blog address to:
NEWS
Birutė Šležas will be signing books at the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore's stand at the Vilnius Book Fair after a panel discussion on English translation on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 18:00. She will be doing her own presentation on Fall Comes from the Forest at the Marius Katiliškis library in Pasvalys, Lithuania on Wednesday, March 1, at 13:00. And then she returns to America, to make an appearance at Boston's Lithuania's independence day commemoration on March 4 at 4 p.m. at the South Boston Lithuanian Club -- Whew! What a schedule!
Like to get a set of two Pica Pica Press bookmarks, featuring our favorite feathered friend? Sign up for our mailing list here. Don't be shy—we promise to be very sparing with our mailings, and of course, we never sell or share our mailing list.
If you're already a subscriber and would like these bookmarks, please go ahead fill in the form again, including your street address; we'll sort out the duplication.