UBC Press What We Are, When We Are book Paperback 108 pages

Working within a postmodern style, this rhythmic and melodious collection of poems originally written in Slovenian by Cvetka Lipuš and translated here by Tom Priestly, blends the real with the surreal, dull urban lives with dreams. Lipuš, known for the lexical beauty of her work, dwells on topics of time and space which she handles in an almost revolving, irreverent manner. Priestly captures the maze-like characteristic of her verse and carefully reconstructs the sonoric beauty of the work in its original language.

Born in Austria, Cvetka Lipuš is the author of seven collections of poetry in Slovenian. Kaj smo, ko smo(2015), for which Lipuš received the Prešeren Foundation Award, was short-listed for the Veronika Prize, the most prestigious poetry prize in Slovenia.Tom Priestly is professor emeritus in the Department of Modern Languages and Culture Studies at the University of Alberta and the author of numerous translations including Jani Virk’s The Last Temptation of Sergiy(2016).