Dear colleagues – poets and translators,

It is our pleasure to announce that this year’s Compass Award competition is dedicated to the work of Maria Petrovykh (1908-79). Petrovykh was a poet of exquisite precision and subtlety – a friend of Osip Mandelstam, serving as an inspiration for his famed “Masteritsa vinovatykh vzorov,” and of Anna Akhmatova, who called her “Naznach’ mne svidan’e na etom svete” a “lyric masterpiece.” Yet, unlike her fellow masters, she hasn’t attained universal recognition. In part, this is due to her own humility; she published only one collection in her lifetime, and devoted most of her professional life to editing and translating the work of others. We feel it is high time for Petrovykh's own verse to benefit from the attention of translators as gifted and inspired as she herself was.

The conditions are simple: each participant or pair of participants should submit a translation of one lyric poem (no longer than 40 lines) of their choice. The translation, the Russian original, and a commentary of up to 400 words should be sent via email – both in the body of the message and as an attached WORD file – to compass@stosvet.net, with the words “Petrovykh Contest” in the subject line. The commentary may address any or all of the following points: reasons for choosing the poem; the difficulties encountered while translating the poem, be they formal or semantic; and the place of the poem in Petrovykh’s larger body of work (e.g., is it typical or atypical of her voice, themes, etc.). Please write your name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address on all pages of the WORD file. The submission period is January 1 through June 15. The contest entry fee is $15 securely paid online through the Cardinal Points donation page:

Entries will be judged anonymously; the participants' names will not appear on their submissions. The copyright of winning and commended translations will remain with the translators, but StoSvet retains the right to publish the poems on its and its affiliates' websites, as well as in the journals Cardinal Points and «Стороны света».