World Poetry Books

A Celebration of World Poetry Books

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You're invited to a celebration of World Poetry Books, welcoming our new editor, Matvei Yankelevich with readings from distinguished poets and translators Jennifer Grotz Piotr Sommer Maria Borio Danielle Pieratti hosted by the UConn Humanities Institute October 4, 2022, 5:00–7:00pm Wilbur Cross North Reading Room. Hors d'oeuvres and wine will be served.

Book cover for Everything I Don't Know, Jerzy Ficowski Translated from the Polish by Jennifer Grotz and Piotr Sommer
Everything I Don't Know, by Jerzy Ficowski and translated by Jennifer Grotz and Piotr Sommer, winner of the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.

Please join us for a celebration of World Poetry Books

October 4, 2022, 5:00–7:00pm
Wilbur Cross North Reading Room

We will be welcoming World Poetry Books’ new editor, Matvei Yankelevich, and the event will feature readings from distinguished poets and translators, including Jennifer Grotz, Piotr Sommer, Maria Borio, and Danielle Pieratti.

hosted by the UConn Humanities Institute, cosponsored by Creative Writing, Literatures Cultures and Languages, and The Program in Literary Translation.

refreshments will be served

Speakers

Jennifer Grotz

Jennifer Grotz is the author of three books of poetry, Window Left Open (Graywolf Press), The Needle (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and Cusp (Mariner Books) as well as translator of two books from the French: Psalms of All My Days (Carnegie Mellon), a selection of Patrice de La Tour du Pin, and Rochester Knockings (Open Letter), a novel by Hubert Haddad, and co-translator from the Polish of Jerzy Ficowski's Everything I Don't Know (World Poetry), winner of the 2022 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. She teaches at the University of Rochester and di-rects the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences.

Piotr Sommer

Piotr Sommer is a Polish poet, the author of Things to Translate (Bloodaxe Books), Continued (Wesleyan), and Overdoing It (Trias Chapbook Series). He has won prizes and fellowships, and has taught poetry at American universities. With Jennifer Grotz, he co-translated Jerzy Ficowski's Everything I Don't Know (World Poetry), winner of the 2022 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.He lives outside Warsaw and edits Literatura na Świecie, a magazine of foreign writing in Polish translations.

Maria Borio

Maria Borio is an Italian poet, essayist, and editor. Her books include two collections of poetry, and two scholarly monographs on Italian poetry. She is the poetry editor of the journal Nuovi Argomenti, previously directed by Alberto Moravia and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Her first book in English translation is Transparencies (World Poetry), translated by Danielle Pieratti.

Danielle Pieratti

Danielle Pieratti is the author of Fugitives (Lost Horse Press), winner of the 2017 Connecticut Book Award for poetry, and the translator of Italian poet Maria Borio’s English-language debut, Transparencies (World Poetry). Her most recent poems and translations have appeared in Meridian, Ambit, Mid-American Review, Words Without Borders, and Asymptote.

UCHI: A Year in Review

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Thanks to the generous support of the University of Connecticut Provost’s Office, Graduate School, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and UConn Foundation, as well as our own grants, we have had quite a productive year so far. We have been able to fund 13 residential fellowships this year, including three visiting fellows, six UConn faculties, and four UConn graduate dissertation fellows. We funded and co-sponsored various events and programs, including a lecture and book signing by celebrated author, Colson Whitehead, presentations by award-winning and celebrated scholars and activities, Annette Vee, Rebecca Traister, and Aruna D’Souza, and the rare chance to see a performance by distinguished flamenco guitar player, Oscar Herrero.

We also welcomed World Poetry Books, the only publisher in the United States dedicated solely to publishing books of international poetry in English Translation, and we kicked off our The Future of Truth initiative with a 275,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. We work hard to cultivate creativity among scholars of the arts and humanities at UConn, but we also find inspiration in the achievements and successes of our fellows, long after they leave UCHI. 

 

Here is a snapshot of what we have achieved in just a few short months:

 

Word Poetry Books Becomes UConn’s First Major Publishing Initiative

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Consider what your bookshelf might look like if you were to remove every book that has been translated—every Homer, Sappho, Rumi, Li Po, Szymborska, Neruda, or the Bible. Imagine removing every book by an author whose work has been influenced and shaped by a translation. Exceptional literature needs exceptional translators to bring it to life in a new language.

The University of Connecticut Humanities Institute (UCHI) is proud to announce World Poetry Books (WPB) as a new collaborative initiative with Dr. Peter Constantine, professor of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages at the University of Connecticut (UConn). Based at UConn, WPB is the only publisher in the United States dedicated solely to publishing books of international poetry in English translation. As a press, our goal is to champion poets and translators from all stages of their careers by creating new communities of readers both inside and outside of the university. We believe every language has its Walt Whitman, its C.P. Cavafy, or Anne Carson, yet most world poetry—especially poetry from underrepresented languages—remains under-published and undiscovered. Our mission is to publish and promote books of vital world poetry from languages other than English. We invite our readers to celebrate the art of translation, so essential to the vibrant circulation of words and ideas. To find out more, and to purchase books, please visit us at: www.worldpoetrybooks.com