Lightwall

"Liliana Ursu's poems are like flowers at the edge of the abyss. They are beautifully clear and precise, but behind them one glimpses the presence of an ineradicable dark."-Mark Strand

"Ursu writes poetry that is wild and unpredictable, on the brink of flying away beyond real and imagined borders. Her short poems are stunning, unforgettable, and expertly translated into exciting English texts by Sean Cotter."-Ray Gonzalez

Lightwallrefers to the angled casements built to reflect sunlight into basement apartments in Bucharest. These poems bring light where it ordinarily does not reach: Romanian trains, old suitcases, the medieval city where Ursu was born. Her poems connect her home in old Bucharest to her travels in the United States, and her Orthodox spirituality with her modern, Balkan context.

"Snapshot"

About dill, tarragon, and Ibiza

I cannot write the same way.

About jets, juniper, and January

I can.

About roundhouses, surroundings, and sleigh bells

the only ones who write the same

are hills and angels.

Liliana Ursuis a poet, prose writer, and translator. She has published seventeen books in Romania and three have been translated into English. Ursu produces radio programs in Bucharest, has received two Fulbright grants to teach at Penn State, and has also taught creative writing at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.

Sean Cotterhas translated four books of Romanian poetry, including Zephyr's volume of Liliana Ursu's poetry, Goldsmith Market(2004).

New work connecting Liliana Ursu's home in old Bucharest to her travels in the United States.

Poetry. Bilingual Edition. Translated from the Romanian by Sean Cotter. LIGHTWALL refers to the angled casements built to reflect sunlight into basement apartments in Bucharest. These poems bring light where it ordinarily does not reach: Romanian trains, old suitcases, the medieval city where Ursu was born. Her poems connect her home in old Bucharest to her travels in the United States, and her Orthodox spirituality with her modern, Balkan context. "Liliana Ursu is a dancer, an archeologist of light. How she makes The Black Sea again, how she expands the places of myth is beyond grasping"--Tomaz Salamun.

Liliana Ursu is a poet, prose writer, and translator, with eighteen books published in Romania. She has been translated into many languages, including three previous books in English. She lives in Bucharest, teaching courses in poetry and creative writing, producing occasional radio programs for Romania cultural, and writing. She has received two Fulbright grants and taught creative writing at the University of Louisville and at Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.