POETRY TRAVELS with Anna Blasiak and Lisa Kalloo. UNTITLED by Gëzim Hajdari, translated by Sarah Stickney
It's snowing on Dartmoor.
The boulders of Stonehenge,
by persisting with their secret
are emptied of mystery.
On the apple tree
braided roots
pierced by rain's knives.
Water and blood
the tree of Jeremiah.
Rape or passion
this new home?
It's snowing on Dartmoor.
A white shroud over exile.
By Gëzim Hajdari
Translated by Sarah Stickney
From Selected Poems (1990–2020) by Gëzim Hajdari, translated from Italian by Sarah Stickney, published by Shearsman Books 2025
Widely recognized as one of the major poets of our times, Gëzim Hajdari was born in 1957 in Hajdaraj, Albania. He acquired his early education in his home town, trained as an accountant, then graduated in Albanian Language and Literature at the A. Xhuvani University in Elbasan and in Modern Letters at La Sapienza University in Rome.
In 1991, Hajdari was among the founders of the opposition Democratic and Republican parties of the town of Lushnje, and was elected Republican district secretary. In the course of his intense political activity and his work as a journalist, Hajdari often spoke out against the crimes and abuses perpetrated by the old Hoxha nomenklatura and by the post-communist government. For this and other reasons, following repeated threats, he was forced to leave Albania in 1992.
Since 1993 Hajdari, who writes both in Albanian and Italian, has published many books, among which are thirteen collections of poetry and several translations, including I canti dei nizàm (a collection of songs of the Albanian soldiers conscripted into the Ottoman army). Translated into several languages, his poetry is the subject of three major monographs to date and has been awarded a number of prizes. For his literary merits, Hajdari has been granted honorary citizenship of Frosinone, the Italian town south of Rome where he has lived in exile since 1992.
Sarah Stickney received her MFA from the University of New Hampshire. She is a former Fulbright Grantee for the translation of Italian poetry. The Guest in the Wood, her co-translations of Elisa Biagini’s selected poems, was awarded the Best Translated Book Award for Poetry in 2014 by the University of Rochester. She lives in Annapolis, MD, where she teaches at St. John’s College.
Photo by Lisa Kalloo
Check out the Poetry Travels book list on bookshop.org.
Read previous poems in the Poetry Travels series:
TREATISE ON POETRY by Julian Kornhauser, translated by Piotr Florczyk
THEN I SHALL BECOME A BIRD by Victoria Demici
UNTITLED by Nóra Ružičková, translated by Ivana Hostová
UNTITLED by Anna Siedykh, translated by Julia Sherwood
THE VISTULA BOULEVARDS AT NIGHT-TIME by Marlena Zynger, translated by Anna Blasiak
WHITEWARDS No. 36 by Katarína Kucbelová, translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood
DAYDREAM by Béatrice Douvre, translated by John Taylor
FOUR FRAGMENTS ON A SHARED SILENCE by Sofia Vaisman Maturana, translated by the Author
TONGUE by Nisrine Mbarki, translated by Michele Hutchison
Extract from MING by Iana Boukova, translated by John O’Kane and Ekaterina Petrova
Extract from MOUNTAINISH by Zsuzsanna Gahse, translated by Katy Derbyshire
THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST by Silvia Choleva, translated by Kaloyan Ignatovski
HOW TO HOLD YOUR BREATH by Hasib Hourani
SALVO by Charline Lambert, translated by John Taylor
CATS BORN IN WALUTS by Tiziano Fratus, translated by Eleonora Matarrese
CYBORG by Volker Braun, translated by Karen Leeder and David Constantine
AVATAR by Laura Fusco, translated by the Author and Alan Dent
SCATTERED by Floriana Ferro, translated by the Author
OX AND MANDARIN // A COMPENDIUM by Milla van der Have
ROYAL PEACOCK by Veroniki Dalakoura, translated by John Taylor
SNAKE DEATHS by Monika Herceg, translated by Marina Veverec
ON THE WAY TO THE SHOP by Marija Dejanović, translated by Vesna Maric
*** (MY LOVE, YOU SAID YOU WERE A WOLF) by Ruzanna Voskanyan, translated by Nieri Avanessian
RED ZONE by Iryna Tsilyk, translated by Vitaly Chernetsky
THE SPIDER by Danae Sioziou, translated by Panagiotis Kechagias and Mania Meziti
UNTITLED by Johanna Venho, translated by Anselm Hollo
THE KNOWLEDGE OF EVERYTHING by Eleni Cay, translated by the Author
ALIBI by Ewa Brzoza Birk, translated by Anna Blasiak
PATIENCE by Ziba Kirbassi, translated by Stephen Watts
HARLEQUIN by Arjola Zadrima, translated by Vlora Konushevci
SIRENS by Victoria Amelina, translated by Anatoly Kudryavitsky
JOB: A WOMAN by Dominika Lewicka-Klucznik, translated by Anna Blasiak
BAGS by Blerina Rogova Gaxha, translated by Vlora Konushevci
TONGUEFISH by Yolanda Castaño, translated by Keith Payne
WHAT DO YOU NEED by Friederike Mayröcker, translated by Christina Daub
A WORK OF BIOGRAPHY by Max Jacob, translated by Ian Seed
UNTITLED POEM by Ivano Fermini, translated by Ian Seed
AGAINST TRAVEL. FOR DANA by Rachel Levitsky
LIGHT by Vasyl Makhno, translated by Olena Jennings
A MESSAGE FROM THE ISLE OF WIGHT by Wioletta Greg, translated by Maria Jastrzębska and Anna Blasiak
HOME by Nataša Sardžoska, translated by the Author
ONLY THE BEGINNING COUNTS (4) by Jan Baeke, translated by Antoinette Fawcett
*** (RABID WINDS) by Gerður Kristný, translated by Rory McTurk
ANSWER TO THE PRAYERS by Vainius Bakas, translated by Kerry Shawn Keys
AGGRESSOR’S MONOLOGUE by Artūras Valionis, translated by Jura Avizienis
THAT’S ALL by Jurgita Jasponytė, translated by Jura Avizienis
UNTITLED by Linas Umbrasas, translated by Audra Skukauskaitė
FIRST SPRING OF THE WAR by Vytautas Kaziela, translated by Jura Avizienis
A LETTER TO A CHILD by Lina Buidavičiutė, translated by Ada Valaitis
UNTITLED by Aneta Kamińska, translated by Anna Blasiak
TWO LYRICS OF LOVE AND MEMORY by Lina Kostenko, translated by Stephen Komarnyckyj
CROW STUDY by Yuri Andrukhovych, translated by John Hennessy and Ostap Kin
UNTITLED POEM by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by John Hennessy and Ostap Kin
UNTITLED POEM by Ludmila Khersonsky, translated by Maya Chhabra
UNTITLED POEM by Iryna Vikyrchak
From THE ANDROMEDA NEBULA by Anna Gréki, translated by Souheila Haïmiche and Cristina Viti
TEAPOT by Nurduran Duman, translated by Andrew Wessels
IT’S COMING AGAIN by Michael Strunge, translated by Paul Russell Garrett
REPORT FROM ANOTHER CITY by Marcin Niewirowicz, translated by the Author
INTERIOR by Ana Blandiana, translated by Paul Scott Derrick and Viorica Patea
THIS IS LOVE by Joanna Fligiel, translated by Anna Blasiak
REVELATION IN H&M by Menno Wigman, translated by David Colmer
*** (I WANT TO FOLD THIS DAY) by Inga Pizāne, translated by Jayde Will
THE SIEGE by Marcin Świetlicki, translated by Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese
FISH by Jana Putrle Srdić, translated by Barbara Jurša
THE WELL by Maarja Pärtna, translated by Jayde Will
THE SHADOW by Pentti Saarikoski, translated by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah
A FAREWELL TO MY DEAD CLASS by Irit Amiel, translated by Anna Blasiak and Marta Dziurosz
THE GIRLS IN BERGEN-BELSEN by Nora Gomringer, translated by Annie Rutherford
DECEMBER, by Jaume Subirana, translated by Christopher Whyte
ROSE RED, by Ulrike Almut Sandig, translated by Karen Leeder
*** (I D[R]IPPED MY PEN…) by Mario Martín Gijón, translated by Terence Dooley
WHAT COMES by Magda Cârneci, translated by Adam J. Sorkin and Mădălina Bănucu
TRANSLATION by Justyna Bargielska, translated by Maria Jastrzębska
*** (MY EYES, DENSE NIGHT…) by Gëzim Hajdari, translated by Ian Seed
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