Photo courtesy of Ivan Milovidov
New England Review is pleased to share that acclaimed Lithuanian poet, critic, and NER contributor Tomas Venclova has won this year’s Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award. His interview with translator and NER international correspondent Ellen Hinsey, “Increasing Our Humanity: Poetry, Civil Society, and Democratic Ethics,” and two original poems served as the third installment in our Literature & Democracy series.
In honor of this profound achievement, and in continuation of this ongoing series, we are proud to publish Tomas Venclova’s poem “Dictator”—translated from the Lithuanian by Ellen Hinsey—for the first time in English.
Awarded since 2013, the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award is a distinction on the literary world stage in recognition of outstanding artistic and intellectual achievements. Past winners include W. S. Merwin, Charles Simic, Ryszard Krynicki, Lars Gustafsson, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Agi Miszol, Durs Grünbein, and Yusef Komunyakaa. More information about the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation and the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award can be found here.
“Literature and Democracy,” a quarterly column curated by NER international correspondent Ellen Hinsey, presents writers’ responses to the threats to democracy around the world, beginning with a focus on Eastern Europe.