Author: Christensen, Inger; Author: Translator Nied, Susanna
Paperback
64 pages
Published: May 2001
W.W. Norton & Company Ltd
ISBN: 081121477X

Awarded the American-Scandinavian Pen Translation Prize by Michael Hamburger, Susanna Nied's translation of alphabet introduces Inger Christensen's poetry to U.S. readers for the first time. Born in 1935, Inger Christensen is Denmark's best known poet. Her award-winning alphabet is based structurally on Fibonacci's sequence (a mathematical sequence in which each number is the sum of thetwo previous numbers), in combination with the alphabet. The gorgeous poetry herein reflects a complex philosophical background, yet has a visionary quality, discovering the metaphysical in the simple stuff of everyday life. In alphabet, Christensen creates a framework of psalm-like forms that unfold like expanding universes, while crystalizing both the beauty and the potential for destruction thaThe author presents a poetic version of the alphabet that is based structurally on Fibonacci's mathematical sequence in which every number is the sum of the two previous numbers.