Here at last is Inger Christensen's masterpiece it, translated brilliantly by Susanna Nied, and with an illuminating introduction by Anne Carson.

"One of Scandinavia's most honored poets." --Publishers Weekly

"Like Hesiod, Inger Christensen wants to give an account of what is--of everything that is and how it is and what we are in the midst of." --Anne Carson, from the Introduction

"I am grateful to New Directions for publishing the books of Inger Christensen." --W.S. Merwin

it is the masterwork by Danish poet Inger Christensen ("a true singer of the syllables," said C. D. Wright), often cited as a Nobel contender and one of Europe's most revered poets. On its publication in 1969, it took Denmark by storm, winning critical praise and becoming a huge popular favorite. Translated into many languages, it won international acclaim and is now a classic of modern Scandinavian poetry.

it is both a collection of poems and a single poetic epic, forming a philosophical statement on the nature of language, perception, and reality. The subject matter, though, is down to earth: amoebas, stones, and factories; fear, sea urchins, and mental institutions; sand, sexuality, and song. The words and images of it recur in ways reminiscent of Christensen's other works, but here is a younger poetry, wilder, and crackling with energy. The marvelous and complex use of mathematical structure in it is faithfully captured in Susanna Nied's English translation, which won a 2005 PEN Translation Fund Award.

INGER CHRISTENSEN was born in Velje, Denmark, in 1935. She trained as a teacher, and made her poetry debut in 1962 with the collection Lys (Light) . Her books include works of fiction and poetry, essays, and drama. She has been a member of the Danish Academy since 1995, and has received The Swedish Academy Nordic Prize and the Austrian State Prize for Literature. SUSANNA NIED 's brilliant translation of alphabet won the American-Scandinavian PEN Translation Prize. ANNE CARSON is a Canadian, a classicist, and the award-winning author of Decreation, Autobiography of Red, and Glass, Irony and God (ND, 1995). She is on the faculty of the University of Michigan, and has also taught at Princeton and Emory.

Also from New Directions: alphabet (ISBN 0-8112-1477-x) and Butterfly Valley (0-8112-1579-2)

Date of Publication: November 2006