The greater the poetic quality, the less yielding are the poems to translation,
regardless of whether they seem "simple" or "complex." In twentieth-century Russian
poetry, one finds few poems, both long and short, that are as difficult to translate
as those of Marina Tsvetaeva. Their poetic tension is just too high, and their force
fields are overwhelmingly complex. And, yet... In 2012, Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva
would have turned 120, and we dedicate our annual contest to her. The judges
are 16 remarkable poets, translators, and Slavic scholars, some of whom
have spent years translating and analyzing Tsvetaeva's works.
WINNERS OF THE 2012 COMPASS AWARD:
1st prize ("Compass" and $300)
Alyssa Gillespie, Associate professor of Russian Language and Literature; University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
The Poem of the End
(Alyssa is also the 2nd place winner in Compass Award-2011, the Gumilyov contest)
2nd prize ($150)
Brian Droitcour, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature, New York University, USA
Upon a Red Steed
3rd prize ($100)
Leah Goldberger (a Russian-Arabic-English interpreter in Cairo, Egypt. ) and Eugene Serebryany (biology Ph.D. student in Cambridge, Massachusetts)
An Attempt at Jealosy
THE 2012 COMPASS AWARD SHORT LIST:
1) Poem of the End (Поэма конца) - A.Gillespie, US
2) The Grove (Сад) - H.Wong, Singapore
3) An Attempt at Jealousy (Попытка ревности) - L.Goldberger, Egypt and E.Serebryany,US
4) August - Asters... (Август - астры...) - N.Moseman, US
5) Upon a Red Steed (На красном коне) - B.Droitcour, US
6) A window and a light... (Вот опять окно...) - I.Mazin, US
7) From "The Trees" (Из цикла "Деревья") - S.Bogdanov, UK
8) Magdalene. 2 (Магдалина. 2) - A.Gillespie, US
The shortlisted translations will be published in both Cardinal Points and Стороны Света journals, as well as in Russiapedia – a special online encyclopedic project by RT.
The Compass Award-2012 Ceremony and Reading will take place on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at Poets House in New York.
Time: 2-4PM
Address:
Elizabeth Kray Hall
10 River Terrace
New York, NY 10282
With questions concerning the event, please contact the Committee at compass@stosvet.net
The use of the space at Poets House was made possible through the Literary Partners Space Sharing Program.
The poet for the 2013 contest is expected to be announced on December 3, 2012.
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