Jan Greenberg invited poets across the globe to choose a work of art and write about it. The result is this beautifully designed collection showcasing selected poems and the pieces of art that inspired them. There is a stunning and varied array of both art and poetry here, and the interplay between the two enriches each. In his poem “The Scream,” German poet Günter Kunert imagines the thoughts of the two figures standing on the bridge behind Edvard Munch’s tortured subject in the famous painting of the same name; in “The Pears,” Argentine poet María Teresa Andruetto conjures a magical childhood memory from Picasso’s painting A Dish of Pears; Eritrean poet Ghirmai Yohannes arrives at a revelation while considering Lawrence F. Sykes photograph Massawa Moment in the poem “Who Needs a Story?” There is astonishment, discomfort, and delight in the relationships explored in this deeply thoughtful anthology. Most of the poems were written in and translated from languages other than English, and all of the translated poems appear in both their language of origin and in English, while biographical notes on the poets, translators, and artists are included in this singular work.

Megan Schliesman
April 2008