Continuum

Cassian Nina

Continuum follows the path taken in "Take My Word for It", with poems written in her original English. As in her translated Romanian poems, Nina Cassian is a born lyric story-teller. Many of her poems take the form of short fables or even parables, fashioned with a unique blend of fantasy, seriousness and humour. The section titles – Remember, Creatures from Inner Space, Travelling, Homages, Love's Boomerang, Finale – give an idea of the book's range and her capacity for striking turns of phrase, but do not suggest the expressive power which reaches new heights in the longer poem "Interpreting Bach".

About the Author

Nina Cassian, born in Romania in 1924, has published over sixty books, including works of fiction and children's books. She is also a composer and translator (notably of three Shakespeare plays), and was a journalist and film critic. Since 1985 she has lived in New York City, having remained in the West for fear of reprisals in the then communist Romania of Ceausescu. Her work is now published again in Romania. Her selected poems in translation "Life Sentence" (Anvil 1990; new edition 1998) confirmed her worldwide reputation.

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