Into the Heart of European Poetry - 9781412811095

John Taylor's brilliant new book examines the work of many poets who have deeply marked modern and contemporary European literature. He not only delves into the more widely translated literatures of Italy, Greece, Germany, and Austria, but also discovers impressive and overlooked work in Slovenia, Bosnia, Hungary, Finland, Norway, Russia, and the Netherlands.

"[A]n intelligent companion to much twentieth-century and contemporary European poetry...Informed by an all too rare cultural literacy, serious and detailed."---Fiona Sampson, The Times Literary Supplement

"Expatriate belle-lettrist Taylor is a longtime, widely published interpreter of modern European literature for North American readers...A few pieces focus on big names (Montale, Bachmann, Brodsky, et al.), but most introduce writers who are notable in local contexts but little known outside. Those eye-openers are the book's greatest strength...A long, helpful bibliography is included. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers, all levels."---M. Kasper, Choice

"In his extremely interesting introduction, John Taylor notes that because European poetry also comprises `poetic prose' texts that are difficult to classify, then his book will include studies of writings that are normally considered to be prose. This critical perception becomes particularly fertile in the essays themselves."---Veroniki Dalakoura, Avgi

"John Taylor is one of the critical wonders of the Western European world. Awesomely knowledgeable and invariably fair-minded, his book presents essay-length considerations of contemporary poets from Luis Cernuda and Yves Bonnefoy to Radmila Lazic and Marzanna Kielar."---Dennis O'Driscoll, "Tuesday Top Ten," The Book Depository

"[An] exploratory enthusiasm felt in almost every essay. To us Taylor...miraculously crosses time and space to suddenly appear in Milan, Ljubljana or Salonica. Taylor's anthology is a celebration of particularity. Its 405 pages...should be read in snatches to absorb the factual information, to savour the quotes, to rethink the interpretations."---Elzbieta Wojcik-Leese, Poetry Wales