Released 31st November 2021 // 134 pages // 978-1-913642-71-6
Night with a Pocketful of Stones is the Romanian poet Traian T. Coșovei's first book in English. Coșovei, who died in 2014, was a significant figure in contemporary Romanian poetry. These new translations by Adam J. Sorkin and Andreea Iulia Scridon show an eccentric and original mind rubbing up against the rules and rubric of his day, threshing new colours from the night, lifting a veil, to paraphrase Shelley, from the hidden beauty of the world.
PRAISE for Night With a Pocketful of Stones:
Coșovei is 'undoubtedly one of the purest, most original, and most valuable poets of his generation'.
- Mircea Cărtărescu (Nobel Prize candidate)
'A craftsman-poet of extraordinary ability'
- Emilia David
'Coșovei's poetry presents itself as an uninterrupted negotiation. Which means a tension of expression, straining and production. This is where his lyricism emerges. (...) Only rarely has a writer succeeded in balancing in such a nuanced manner the abundant spontaneity of his own language and the constrictive ambition of order as Coșovei has.'
- Cosmin Ciotloș
'Decidedly the locomotive of a new generation'
- Teodora Dumitru
'One of Bucharest's universal poets' (...) 'Traian is a Lord, a Master of Verse (...) a Gentleman among the poets of his generation and, in genere, the Romanian-language poets of today.'
- Nicolae Țone
Traian T. Coșovei (1954–2014), a prominent Romanian poet of the ’80s Generation, was a
founding member of the “Cenaclul de Luni” literary circle that would eventually set the tone for postmodern Romanian poetry. He published over 20 books. Coșovei was the recipient of a series of prizes, including the Romanian Academy and the International Nichita Stănescu prizes.
Adam J. Sorkin has translated 65 books of contemporary Romanian literature, including A
Spider’s History of Love by Mircea Cărtărescu (New Meridian Arts); Lavinia and Her Daughters by Ioana Ieronim (Červená Barva); and Quarantine Songs by Carmen Firan and Adrian Sângeorzan (New Meridian).
Andreea Iulia Scridon is a Romanian-American writer and translator. She studied Comparative Literature at King’s College London and Creative Writing at the University of Oxford. Her translations include stories by Ion D. Sîrbu and poems by Ion Cristofor. Broken Sleep Books is publishing a chapbook of her poetry.
