Why read Everything I Don't Know?

Book cover of Everything I Don't Know

Book description

"These surprising, clear, and appealing poems are to be enjoyed again and again, marking Ficowski as a poet readers won't want to miss."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"What good luck to finally have in English the writings of the brilliant Jerzy Ficowski, the poet who lived at least seventeen lives, fighting…

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Poetry

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Why read it?

1 author picked Everything I Don't Know as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Sibelan Forrester

Author

Jerzy Ficowski (1924-2006) is a poet who has been less well known in the United States, even though Poland had one of the greatest poetic traditions of the 20th century.

He resisted both Nazi oppression and communist censorship, celebrated Roma culture, and often wrote of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. His own poetry is full of striking and unexpected images and characters, and this collaborative translation by two talented poets brings his voice right into the room. I especially love his ode to the stove burner: who would have thought?

From Sibelan's list on The best books of poetry from Eastern Europe in translation.