Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments

Translated by: Patrick Friesen, Per Brask

Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments is a collection of poems that zooms in and out of places and states of mind, from a lit bicycle shed in the back yard to a root canal in November, from a typhoon in Hong Kong to instincts astray in various Copenhagen neigborhoods. Elegantly translated by Canadian collaborators Per Brask and Patrick Friesen, these dreamlike poems attempt, with honesty and humour, to fathom what it is to inhabit a specifically unspecific point in life—not to mention in the Universe.

AUTHOR

Ulrikka S. Gernes

Ulrikka S. Gernes was born in Sweden to Danish parents and spent most of her childhood in Sweden. She has travelled extensively in Europe and Asia and now lives in Copenhagen. Her work has been highly acclaimed in Denmark since the publication of her first collection Natsvaermer (Moth) in 1984 when she was 18. She has published eight further collections. A Sudden Sky is a representative selection of her work, chosen by the author with the translators, Patrick Friesen and Per Brask. A Sudden Sky is Brick Books’ second translation.

AUTHOR

Patrick Friesen

Patrick Friesen writes poetry, essays, drama, scripts, songs, and text for dance and music. The author of over a dozen books of poetry, Friesen has collaborated with various musicians, including Big Dave McLean, Cate Friesen, and Marilyn Lerner, and with choreographer-dancers Margie Gillis, Stephanie Ballard, and Ruth Cansfield. Friesen also teaches, part-time, as a sessional in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria. His most recent poetry book is ‘jumping in the asylum'(Quattro Books, 2011). Formerly of Winnipeg, Friesen now lives in Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island.

AUTHOR

Per Brask

Per Brask is a Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Winnipeg where he has taught since 1982. He has published poetry, short stories, drama, translations, interviews and essays in a wide variety of journals and books. This is his fifth volume of poetry co-translated with Patrick Friesen.