Offhand references to absurd Russians | Lev Rubinstein, Philip Metres, Daniil Kharms

An email today from Philip Metres brought back fond memories of a project he presented for the Poems-For-All Series back in 2003. Russian poet Lev Rubinstein likes to construct his poems with each line on a seperate index card. Philip provided a translation he and Tatiana Tulchinsky did of Lev's poem Unnamed Events and the poem was produced on a series of miniature cards presented in an envelope with the cover you see to the left.

A little something about Lev Rubinstein. This quote from Phil's website provides a concise insight: "Rubinstein is the true heir of the OBERIU artists of the late 1920s. Like his most illustrious predecessor, Daniil Kharms, Rubinstein creates deadly serious, devastatingly funny comedy that incorporates a broad range of literary forms. In the precise translations of Philip Metres and Tatiana Tulchinsky, this witty and elegant work is available to an English-language public in its full glory for the first time." --Andrew Wachtel (commenting on Lev Rubinstein's Catalogue of Comedic Novelties available from Ugly Duckling Press)

I enjoyed publishing Lev's "booklet" in the Series (PFA #254) because it introduced me to another Russian avant garde poet. (Daniil Kharms is already represented in the Series with PFAs #234 Blue notebook no. 10 and #235 Four Illustrations of How a New Idea Disconcerts a Man Unprepared for It.)

It was a project that also challenged me to look beyond the conventional production I've used for most of the little books that come out as part of the Series. I like a challenge. And I've been challenged again. Poet Richard Kostelanetz accompanied his recent submissions with the following request: Please try to transcend your customary designs.