Yvonne Green – författare

After Semyon Izrailevich Lipkin was named Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation (Winter 2011)Semyon Izrailevich Lipkin (1911-2003) is now recognised as a leading literary figure in Russia, though he is still relatively unknown in the west. In his own country, he was for many years known primarily as a translator, with only close friends able to read his poems. These friends included the great poet Anna Akhmatova, who acknowledged and supported his genius. It was not until the collapse of the Soviet Union that the general reading public was allowed to become fully aware of the scope and depth of Semyon Lipkin’s own poetry.His work is concerned with history and philosophical exploration, but above all shows a keen sense of people’s diverse destinies. His poems are rich with references to his Jewish heritage and to the Bible, and they draw on a first-hand awareness of the tragedies of World War II.Yvonne Green has worked for eight years, making and working from literal translations to create ‘versions’ – poems ‘after Lipkin’ that bring to English some of this fascinating writer’s most characteristic verse.

“These poems draw you in, gently but firmly, with telling detail and great emotional power. You share what Yvonne Green observes -- very beautifully -- about day-to-day experience; appreciate what she has personally learnt about suffering; and reflect with her on the contribution poetry can make to understanding (perhaps even resolving) the world’s problems. Honoured, as well as being the title of a harrowing individual poem about female martyrdom, is well-chosen as the title of the book honouring the reader with its intelligence and compassion -- and with the occasional agreeable surprise.” Alan Brownjohn

“These are vital, fiercely moving poems, alive with the danger, fear, violence and loss of a diaspora. Yvonne Green invites us to “....know about coming from a country that doesn’t exist” and takes us beyond borders and language in her expansive, profoundly relevant exploration of identity and the meaning of ‘home’.” Josephine Corcoran

"I like the way good food and diction go together so clearly... The poems are different to what one normally gets in English, the issues far bigger, as in 'Dhimmi Under Sharia Law' (A Lawyer's Poem) and in many others that one may benefit from." - Alan Sillitoe"These enthralling and lovely poems begin with rich recollections of another country ( so we ate, so we loved ), but darken into the shock of domestic violence. Her poems are absolutely straightforward to read, but quite unforgettable." - Alison Brackenbury"Yvonne Green takes us into the unfamilar world of Boukhara and Judeo Tajik culture with complete assurance.For all the lucidity of her poetry, her work has an unusual density. This is a fine new voice, which deserves to be widely heard." - Elaine Feinstein"Yvonne Green's poems are strange, evoking unfamiliar worlds and seeing them with their own kind of language. She effaces their merely subjective self and her poems get into their subjects.What matters is the voices out there, and she hears them. There is so much world, so many stories, included here. It is wonderful to encounter this vivid annex to experience and understanding." - Michael Schmidt