The Arrival (Stahlecker Selections) by Daniel Simko

by Daniel Simko

Poet and translator Daniel Simko emigrated with his parents to the U.S.A. and lived here until his death, aged 45, in 2004. Steeped in the traditions of European art, Simko remained reticent about publishing. Thanks to his literary executor, Carolyn Forche, this first collection, in the language Simko grew up into, showcases his gift for the unexpected, exact phrase. The Arrival maps a haunting choreography of travel, memory, and the body so gently you will feel you have been carrying this book around with you all along.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published October 15, 2009

About the author

Svetozar Daniel Simko (b.1959) was a Slovak poet and translator who was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, then emigrated/fled to the USA with his parents after the Soviet invasion in 1968. He attended Oberlin and Columbia, and worked as a librarian at the New York Public Library until his untimely death, at age 45, in 2004. Simko wrote his poems in English and published a few in journals, both in the USA and in translation in Europe.

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quiet and spare verse about the usual subjects of European displacement. Occasionally startling but much did not resonate with me. Decent lyrical reading in the fall or winter, one at a time.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only volume by Daniel Simko in English, this is a special collection of poetry. Daniel simko came to the US from the now Czech Republic in 1968 when the Soviets Invaded and ended up a librarian in New York. These poems deal greatly with feelings of displacement and with love, and are actually quite beautiful, but I found them to be suffocating and opaque after reading through them in entirety. I would like to give them four stars, but I found I was happy to be done with the book, so cannot. Ultimately, I would recommend him to anyone who is curious, but would say I will not likely purchase this volume or read it again.

[Meredith]

A friend of mine co-edited this book.