Tomaz

by Joshua Beckman, Tomaž Šalamun

Tomaž is an extended poem assembled by Joshua Beckman from his recorded conversations with one of the foundational figures of the Eastern European avant-garde, Tomaž Šalamun. This book includes photographs and translated original poems throughout, some of which are presented for the first time in English, as it covers the first forty years of Šalamun's life in his own words. Poetry.

178 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Joshua Beckman was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the author of six books, including Take It (Wave Books, 2009), Shake and two collaborations with Matthew Rohrer: Nice Hat. Thanks. and Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty. He is an editor at Wave Books and has translated numerous works of poetry and prose, including Poker by Tomaz Salamun, which was a finalist for the PEN America Poetry in Translation Award. He is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including a NYFA fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Seattle and New York.

For more information on this author, go to:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/authors/31-...

Reviews

[Anna Kostecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never read a poetry book quite like this. I really enjoyed how it was essentially one long poem about his life with interjections of his actual poetry. Very interesting and fun read.

[jaidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very special human. Like an autobiography in poetry form with his actual poems embedded within making it easy to see the evolution of his poems.
the narrative and poems are distinguishable (font change) but still very fluid it’s cool
Spent the first half of the book confused where Ljubljana is (it’s the capital of Slovenia). His poems are wacky (and it’s not just because they were originally in Slovenian) I love them.

[Jared Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

MM ask me what I’m working on
TS what are you working on
MM i’m pondering my life’s work
TS i’m pondering my life’s work too
MM what will your life’s work be
TS bread