Assembly by Novica Tadić

Translated by Steven & Maja Teref A dynamic artist at the height of his poetic powers, Novica Tadić presents to the reader a world that is at once surreal and hauntingly familiar, a world of encounters with uncanny creatures. His poetry addresses the challenges of surviving as an artist in a Communist society, and shadows of oppression and spiritual pollution permeate much of his work. Assembly is a subversive and mischievous collection, an exploration of humanity that is a stunning testament to Tadić's artistic soul. A recipient of every major literary award in Serbia (and former Yugoslavia), Tadić gained world-wide recognition with the publication of his recent books The Unknown and Devil's Companion. Praise for Novica Tadić and Assembly: In Tadić's poetry, nothing is what it is; identity is goitered, and the goiter is about to give birth. These poems are like snapshots of details from the Apocalypse panel of Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. Reader, draw close: "Beasts hang on the fences, poisons drip from the sky." – Clayton Eshleman The two texts in this bilingual edition play against each other in a counterpoint where source and translation are always driven by the same poetic pulse. The result is a poetry that, far from being lost in translation, is found only in translation – the poetry that has the recharging shock of the foreign, the new. – Francis R. Jones   Bilingual Serbian / English 8.5" x 5.5" 137 pages