Seed in Snow

by Knuts Skujenieks, Bitite Vinklers (Translator)

This first U.S. publication of Knuts Skujenieks—one of Latvia’s foremost poets—is the author’s most important and widely-translated body of work. Convicted in 1962 of anti-Soviet sentiment, Skujenieks wrote these poems during seven years of imprisonment at a labor camp in Mordovia. Vivid and expressive, this collection overcomes the physical experience of confinement in order to assert a limitless creative freedom.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Knuts Skujenieks (born September 5, 1936 in Riga, died July 25, 2022) was a Latvian poet, journalist, and translator from fifteen European languages.

He spent his childhood near Bauska, Zemgale (Southern Latvia). Skujenieks later studied at University of Latvia in Riga and at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow.

In 1962, he was convicted of anti-Soviet activities, and sentenced to seven years in prison camp in Mordovia, Russia. Although he was a prolific poet, he could publish his first collection of poetry only in 1978. The poems he wrote during his captivity were published in 1990. Skujenieks' poetry has been translated into many European languages. Books of his poetry have been published in Sweden and Ukraine.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voices

formless voices,
like girls' laughter across a wild cranberry bog
like the bite of a spade into gravel
like oarlocks lamenting in a mist on gray, aging rivers
like a kick of ale against the autumn sky

voices fill me and swell
crisscross and fall and decay
hobble my feet, hang
entangled
and I cannot find night or day
in the dense voice of the world

[Antra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tās nav pat sāpes.
Tās ir skumjas.

Manā kuņģī ņaud kaķēns
Klusi un žēlabaini.
Dienu raud, nakti raud
Un skrāpējas.

Īpaši rudeņos,
Slapjos un apnicīgos,
Īpaši cilvēkos,
Slapjos un apnicīgos,
Man jānes ir pašam sevi
Un vēl piedevām
Apbēdināts un apvainots
Kaķēns

Es varētu samierināties ar pasauli,
Bet zvērēns nevar.

Ja tās būtu sāpes!
Bet tās ir skumjas.

un: (...) priekšā stāv pārbaudīšana bet lai nomaļus kambaris paliek tukšs tāda ir mana novēlēšana tūkstoš deviņi simti sešdesmit devītā gadā tad būs septiņdesmitais un vēl un vēl bet kas novēlēts tas lai paliek jo cilvēks ir cilvēks un viņam uz pieres uzrakstīts
i z ķ e p u r o t i e s

un gala nav

[Joonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

raamatutäis linguviskeluuletusi

tekstid mille kujundid haaravad käest
asuvad keerutamakeerutamakeerutama
kuni pea käib ringi ja hvuuuuuušš!
heidab luuletus su poole lugemise pealt
omaenda mõttekäikudesse

sünnib paralleelne tekst
ja nii mitukümmend korda järjest

originaaltekstid 5/5
paralleeltekstid 3/5

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love these poems. The poet speaks so clearly and powerfully, shaped by 7 years of imprisonment in a Labor camp in Mordovia. Reading these poems you do not feel the weight of his imprisonment, you feel the clarity, the wonder he sees, maybe even because everything else is stripped away. It’s an amazing collection.

[Aiga Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tik ļoti par mīlestību - pret dzīvi, dzimteni, sievu...
tik ļoti ar spītu - izdzīvot, pārdzīvot, dzīvot

Brīnišķīgi!

[EIJANDOLUM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enfold me in a blizzard.
[…]
Let me sleep a white sleep
inside a fairy tale.

[Cody Stetzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not terribly remarkable but a lot of connective dialogue-esque poems. I felt this work as a conversation with the self pervasively, and it was a pleasure to read.