Poetry. Translated from the Ukrainian by Daniel Halpern. Woodcuts by Jacques Hnizdovsky. "I was moved by the blazing intensity of Drach's spirit. It was a different music from any that I had heard in Russia."—Stanley Kunitz, from his introduction
Author City: Telizhyntsi UKR
Ivan Drach is a Ukranian poet, critic, screenwriter and political activist. Drach played an important role in the founding of Rukh—the People's Movement of Ukraine—and led the organisation from 1989 to 1992. While serving as the Ukraine's minister of communication, he proposed wide- ranging measures including setting quotas for Ukrainian language broadcasts and tax breaks for Ukrainian publishing. His other positions have included the chairmanship of the Ukrainian Intelligentsia Congress and head of the Writers' Union. In 2006 Drach was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine.