Another clutch of Redbirds from the Writers’ Workshop aviary, this time trans¬lations of foreign poets, or ‘transcreations’ as P. Lal prefers to call them. The check¬list at the back of each ‘Birdbook’ shows a cartoon of a pair of eyes struggling to remain above a line, and the note ‘Simply submerged’. WW adds ‘McCutchion spoofs the assiduity of WW endeavours’. Or maybe he’s fed up with a flood of second-rate books. Out of the four sent for review, two should never have made it in¬to ‘fastidiously hand-sewn limp-cloth gold¬-embossed flexible editions offering hard¬back durability and “book-feel” (for goodness’ sake) at popular paperback prices.’ There is nothing wrong with all that, of course, it is simply a matter of pers¬pective.
Trivia to Tragedy
Julian Birkett
LYRICS FROM THE GREEK ANCIENT CHINESE ODES by R.H. Morrison , 1979, 45 pp., Hardbound Rs. 50.00, Flexi¬back Rs. 20.00
ONE HUNDRED RUSSIAN POEMSby , 1979, 118 pp., Hardbound Rs. 50.00, Flexiback Rs. 20 00
THE BULL HIDEby Salvador Espriu (Translated by Burton Raffel) Writers Workshop Publications , 1977, 79 pp., Hardbound Rs 50.00, Flexi¬back Rs. 20.00