Banalities

Fifty powerful and unsettling untitled poems make up this mesmerizing collection by distinguished Slovenian writer Brane Mozetic, translated by Elizabeth Zargi and Timothy Liu. In these poems, Mozetic( confronts meaninglessness and pleasure, melancholy and excitement, often focusing on the pain we inflict on one another and especially the pain we inflict on ourselves. Born in Ljubljana, Brane Mozetic(has published twelve volumes of poetry, two novels, and a short story collection. He has translated numerous authors from the French including Rimbaud, Genet, Foucault, Guibert, Dustan, Cliff, and Brossard. His books in English include Butterflies(Spuyten Duyvil) and Passion(Talisman House) and the forthcoming novel Lost Story(Talisman House). In English his poems have appeared in Poetry International, Talisman, Transcript, Verse, Prague Literary Revue, Chroma, and elsewhere.