ABSTRACT
Ljubljana is intricate, relaxed, ecological, charming, and, apparently, sometimes abruptly pessimistic. Down one avenue spot a chilly snowcapped mountain range and catch a whiff of the warm Adriatic. Italy is not far off. But neither are Austria and Hungary, nor Croatia and the other Balkan states. Besides being the foremost translator of English-language poetry, Taufer is "the father of poetic modernism", as the poet and critic Ivo Svetina has stated, "as well as one of the most excellent legislators of postmodernism". Samplings of his poetry are available in a haunting and formally original volume, Waterlings, as well as in two collections produced in Slovenia. His verse impressively blends high craftsmanship, linguistic experimentation, and firm humanistic commitment. One memorable poem laments the firebombing of the Sarajevo Library during the Yugoslav Wars. A sobering story underlies the prison poems. Zupan managed to make a sort of ink from coffee and blood and a kind of pen brush from his own hair.
