Cat Painters ― An Anthology of Contemporary Serbian Poetry

Poetry. Translated from the Serbian by various translators with an introduction by Charles Bernstein. CAT PAINTERS is the first comprehensive anthology of contemporary Serbian poetry to appear in English. Collecting the work of 71 Serbian poets born since 1940, this book includes Serbs living in Serbia; diasporic Serbs living in the US, France and Italy; Roma and Jewish Serbs; a Japanese who lives in Serbia; and LGBT writers. Half of those included are women.

The poetry varies from very traditional forms to experimental, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E inspired, writing. They speak of all things human: love, war, peace, struggle and loss. Many of the poets were inspired by Americans like T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Allen Ginsberg, Gwendolyn Brooks, past US Poet Laureate Charles Simic (who was born in Serbia and has edited an anthology of Serbian poetry in the US), and Charles Bernstein, who has written the Preface, among others.

Editors Biljana D. Obradovic, who lives in New Orleans, and Dubravka Djuric, who lives in Belgrade, both poets and critics, have assembled a broad range of work translated by 31 distinguished translators from around the world, revealing a side of Serbia which people in the US and the West may not be familiar with—its deep traditions and its very modern engagement with literature, politics and aesthetics. This remarkable anthology sets a high standard for future collections of Serbian, European, or indeed any literatures.

Contributors: Vujica Rešin Tucic, Judita Šalgo, Katalin Ladik, Ljiljana Djurdjic, Stevan Tontic, Mirko Magaraševic, Slobodan Tišma, Slobodan Zubanovic, Dragan J. Ristic, Raša Livada, Duško Novakovic, Radmila Lazic, Novica Tadic, Vladimir Kopicl, Vojislav Despotov, Bratislav R. Milanovic, Stana Dinic Skocajic, Slavoljub Markovic, Saša Važic, Ivana Milankov, Milovan Marcetic, Aleksandar Soknic, Verica Živkovic, Milan Djordjevic, Miloš Komadina, Miodrag Raicevic, Nikola Vujcic, Kayoko Yamasaki, Nina Živancevic, Snežana Minic, Danica Vukicevic, Jelena Lengold, Zvonko Karanovic, Živorad Nedeljkovic, Dragan Jovanovic Danilov, Vojislav Karanovic, Dubravka Djuric, Biljana D. Obradovic, Jasna Manjulov, Dejan Ilic, Milorad Ivic, Nenad Miloševic, Milan Orlic, Marija Kneževic, Jelena Marinkov, Saša Jelenkovic, Dejana Nikolic, Vladislava Vojnovic, Laslo Blaškovic, Oto Horvat, Srdjan Valjarevic, Ana Ristovic, Nataša Žižovic, Nenad Jovanovic, Ksenija Simic-Muller, Snežana Žabic, Milena Markovic, Jelena Labris, Alen Bešic, Dejan Cancarevic, Danica Pavlovic, Natalija Markovic, Enes Halilovic, Dragana Mladenovic, Jasmina Topic, Siniša Tucic, Marjan Cakarevic, Maja Solar, Vladimir Stojnic, Ljiljana Jovanovic, Jelena Savic.

Translators: Stephen Agnew, Vesna Ajnšpiler, David Albahari Lóránt Bencze, Richard Berengarten, Ana Bozicevic, Emöke Z. B'Racz, Michael Castro, Miloš Djurdjevic, Evald Flisar, John Gery, Zdravka, Gugleta, Gábor G. Gyukics, Richard Harrison, Danijela Jovanovic, Dušica Marinkov Jovanovic, Alison Kapor, Vladimir Kapor, David Norris, Biljana D. Obradovic, Zoran Paunovic, Novica Petrovic, Zorica Petrovic, Charles Simic, Aleksandar Soknic, James Sutherland-Smith, Maja Teref, Steven Teref, Ljubomir Vukosavljevic, Snežana Žabic, Nina Zivancevic