This piece is part of our Fall 2019 print issue.
Translated from Slovenian by Brian Henry
Aleš Šteger’s first poetry collection Šahovnice ur (1995) sold out three weeks after publication and indicated a new generation of Slovenian artists and writers. Štegers books have been translated into 16 languages and his poems appeared in internationally renowned magazines and newspapers as The New Yorker. He has published seven books of poetry, three novels, and two books of essays in Slovenian. His books in English include The Book of Things, Berlin, Essential Baggage, Above the Sky Beneath the Earth, and the novel Absolution.
Brian Henry’s translation of Aleš Šteger’s The Book of Things appeared from BOA Editions in 2010 and won the Best Translated Book Award and the Best Literary Translation into English Award from AATSEEL. He also has translated Šteger’s Above the Sky Beneath the Earth, Tomaž Šalamun’s Woods and Chalices, and Aleš Debeljak’s Smugglers. His translations have received numerous honors, including an NEA fellowship, a Howard Foundation grant, and a Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences grant.
