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This entry in the Why This Book Should Win series is by Jarrod Annis, BTBA judge and bookseller at We will be running two (or more!) of these posts every business day leading up to the announcement of the finalists.

by Yevgeny Baratynsky, translated from the Russian by Rawley Grau (Russia, Ugly Duckling Presse)

This book is a beastÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”it is a hefty, beautiful bulk that constitutes one of Ugly Duckling PresseÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s biggest translation endeavors to date. The stately volume is justified by the work it containsÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”the most substantial selection of Yevgeny BaratynskyÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s poetry to be available in English. Readers are also treated to a selection of letters and detailed notes, all compounding into a detailed portrait of a unique poet who was lauded by Pushkin, his great contemporary, and had a key influence on Russian modernists such as Akhmatovah and Mandelstam.

Reading A Science Not For the Earth, itÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s hard not to feel a sense of disbelief at not having encountered the work beforeÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”how could it have slipped through the cracks? This surprise is perhaps due to Rawley GrauÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s crisp translations, which render these nineteenth century gems in a language that feels contemporary and lively, despite beyond their nearly two-hundred years, while still honoring BaratynskyÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s original forms. This is poetry that transcends ages, poetry which is not through speaking. As Baratynsky writes,

But why talk now of ancient times?
The poem is ready. Very likely,
as a register of who I am
youÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ll soon find it will come in handy.

DonÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™t be put off by the size of this collectionÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”we have Rawley Grau and Ugly Duckling Press to thank for a volume of poetry as fresh and elegant as the work it contains.