Splendid and surprising prose poems from one of Norway's most imaginative poets
The sixty-one prose poems collected in The Mountains of Kong find magic in the little absurdities of everyday life and are populated by an unpredictable cast that includes kings and codfish and elephants, a couple looking for a surrogate for their tears, and a lemming on the run.
Presented here in both English translations and their original Nynorsk, and with an introduction by acclaimed poet Stuart Ross, Straumsvågs poems are a new kind of map that will deliver you to places youve never imagined.
Arvustused
"The Mountains of Kong comes as such relief in a world fractured by notifications and terror wielding headlines. And it is kind that these pieces are so short when all of us have forgotten to pay attention to anything. Straumsvåg pays acute attention and distills a moment masterfully. Readers will feel enriched within only a few lines."The Seaboard Review
"An amusingly maladjusted collection of prose poems by the underrated Dag T. Straumsvåg... with Robert Hedins unobtrusive and finely crafted translations placed alongside the Nynorsk. Spanning two decades of consistent work by the Norwegian poet, the poems present a wide range of subjects in various states of dislocation and disillusionments that rely on defamiliarization to highlight the absurdity of life... the poems are funny even in their bleakest moments, deriving their liveliness from the daily bread of the imagination."Asymptote
"Theres a directness to Straumsvågs lyrics, working narratives that pull in and out of deliberate focus, unexpectedly turning left or right or even across, never ending up in a place one might expect. His poems begin with a solid narrative foundation, heading in one direction and then swerving elsewhere, either gradually or suddenly or accumulatively, managing to exceed all expectations, with one step and then another towards truly odd corners and surfaces. Honestly, this is a delightful collection; is that something reviewers even say anymore? This is a delightful book, and I hope there are more of them."rob mclennan
Dag T. Straumsvåg is one of those rare poets who trusts that everything has its own mystery, and he shares those mysteries with us in a way that is graceful, humble and profound. His work will open your eyes, deepen your thoughts, and expand your spirit. Whether navigating through a landscape of traditional sleepwalkers, or pointing out UFOs in the Norwegian countryside, his prose poems guide the reader down the road between two places that no longer exist, and keep us wonderful company every step of the way.Jason Heroux, author of Like A Trophy from the Sun
Dag T. Straumsvåg was born in 1964 in Kristiansund, a city on the western coast of Norway, and grew up in the nearby Tingvoll county. He has been employed as a farmhand, sawmill worker, librarian, and sound engineer for a radio station in Trondheim, where he has lived since 1984. He is the author and translator of nine books and chap of poetry, including A Bumpy Ride to the Slaughterhouse (2006), The Lure-Maker from Posio (2011), both from Red Dragonfly Press, Nelson (Proper Tales Press, 2017), and But in the Stillness (Apt. 9, 2024). His work has appeared in a wide variety of journals in Norway, Canada, and the United States.
Born and raised in Red Wing, Minnesota, Robert Hedin is the author, translator, and editor of two dozen books of poetry. The recipient of many honours and awards for his work, he has taught at the University of Alaska, the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, and Wake Forest University. He is co-founder and former executive director of the Anderson Center at Tower View, a residential artist retreat in Red Wing.
Stuart Ross is the author of over 20 books of fiction, poetry, and personal essays, as well as scores of chapbooks. His most recent books are the poetry collection The Sky Is a Sky in the Sky, the memoir The Book of Grief and Hamburgers (winner of the 2023 Trillium Book Award), and the short story collection I Am Claude François and You Are a Bathtub. Stuart won the 2019 Harbourfront Festival Prize, the 2017 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Poetry, and the 2010 Relit Award for Short Fiction. Since 1979, Stuart has run a micropress called Proper Tales. He lives in the tiny town of Cobourg, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Ontario.
