Birds, Beasts and a World Made New

(Paperback)

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A revelatory volume of two of the twentieth century's great poetic innovators, Guillaume Apollinaire and Velimir Khlebnikov, in vibrant new translations by Robert ChandlerGuillaume Apollinaire and Velimir Khlebnikov never met, but their restless innovations in poetic form shared much in common. Both pushed poetry to its limit, and their experiments proved fertile for generations of poets to come. Khlebnikov became associated with Futurism, though his inventiveness with language moved him far beyond it, while Apollinaire influenced a dizzying array of avant-garde movements, including Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism.Celebrated translator and poet Robert Chandler offers a stimulating selection from both poets' work in beautifully vivid new translations. Showcasing these poets' exhilarating capacity for innovation as well as their more direct, heartfelt verse, Birds, Beasts and a World Made New offers a surprising journey into the world of two great Modernist poets.

Reviews

'A wonderful parallel anthology and introduction to two poets, both so much more. They are the short-lived, playful, and visionary greats of Modernism: the Frenchman Guillaume Apollinaire and the Russian Velimir Khlebnikov. The translations are splendid and full of life, the context brisk, plain and simply sketched in. This is a book for discovery, for pleasure and delight' - George Szirtes, author of 'The Photographer at Sixteen'

Author Bio

Velimir Khlebnikov (1885-1922) was a Russian poet and playwright who played an important role in the Russian Futurist movement. Over his short career, he experimented freely with form and language, even inventing his own language, and is now recognized as one of the major Russian poets of his era.Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) was a French poet, novelist and critic of Polish descent. He became a leading figure of the Modernist avant-garde, influencing the development of Futurism, Cubism, Dadaism and Surrealism, and his work is celebrated for its formal innovation.