Trafika Europe 3 - Latvian Sojourn

then touch me here (ten poems)

Edvīns Raups

Edvīns Raups was born in Sigulda in 1962 and studied English Langauge and Literature at the University of Latvia. He is one of the great innovators in Latvian poetry, giving back to language its metaphysical purity and delight.

“Raups liberates words from the world, and his poetry is made up of visions and perceptions. (‘Only by closing your eyes can you see’). As soon as a word loses its connection with the world of objects, it retreats into itself; paradoxically, this retreat saturates a word with an infinite number of new meanings, and the word can be perpetually born anew.” – Latvian literary critic Guntis Berelis

These poems are translated from the Latvian by Margita Gailitis.

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