From Absinthe To Abyssinia

Selected Miscellaneous, Obscure and Previously Untranslated Works. Translated by Mark Spitzer.

Quite an interesting little book. Spitzer collects together some less known pieces. He says, "After more than a century of affecting the landscape of poetry, it's amazing that a poet as vital as Rimbaud could have such an important body of work that has gone untranslated and unpublished in the English language up until now."

Spitzer also takes a shot at some of Rimbaud's best known translators - Louis Varese, Wallace Fowlie and Oliver Bernard - for "misunderstanding the poetry, and consequently leaving less than accurate impressions of his work."

This one was a real find. A collection of writings brought together for a major celebration mounted by Plymouth Arts Centre to mark the occasion of the centenary of the death of Rimbaud. Contributors include Oliver Bernard, C.A. Hackett and Rene Char.

Poems, prose poems, prose and translations, also a few paintings, drawings and some collage work.

Well worth hunting down. Scarce!

From the back cover blurb: "... forms a tribute from numerous writers and artists and offers proof of the powerful impact and enduring appreciation of Rimbaud in Britain today."