Vasile "Vasko" Popa ( sr-Cyrl, Васко Попа; 29 June 1922 – 5 January 1991) was a
Serbian poet.
Biography
Popa was born in the village of
Grebenac ( ro, Grebenaț),
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capita ...
,
Yugoslavia (present-day
Serbia). After finishing high school, he enrolled as a student at the
University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy
The University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy ( sr, Филозофски факултет Универзитета у Београду), established in 1838 within the Belgrade Higher School, is the oldest Faculty at the University of Belgrad ...
. He continued his studies at the
University of Bucharest and in
Vienna. During
World War II, he fought as a
partisan and was imprisoned in a German concentration camp in
Bečkerek
Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbi ...
(today
Zrenjanin,
Serbia).
After the war in 1949, Popa graduated from the Romanic group of the Faculty of Philosophy at Belgrade University. He published his first poems in the magazines ''Književne novine'' (''Literary Magazine'') and the daily ''
Borba'' (''Struggle'').
From 1954 until 1979, he was the editor of the publishing house ''
Nolit''. In 1953 he published his first major verse collection, ''Kora'' (Bark). His other important work included ''Nepočin-polje'' (''No-Rest Field'', 1956), ''Sporedno nebo'' (''Secondary Heaven'', 1968), ''Uspravna zemlja'' (Earth Erect, 1972), ''Vučja so'' (''Wolf Salt'', 1975), and ''Od zlata jabuka'' (''Apple of Gold'', 1978), an anthology of Serbian folk literature. His ''Collected Poems'', 1943–1976, a compilation in English translation, appeared in 1978, with an introduction by the British poet
Ted Hughes
Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
.
On 29 May 1972 Vasko Popa founded The Literary Municipality Vršac and originated a library of postcards, called Slobodno lišće (Free Leaves). In the same year, he was elected to become a member of the
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Vasko Popa was one of the founders of
Vojvodina Academy of Sciences and Arts
Vojvodinian Academy of Sciences and Art ( Serbian: Vojvođanska akademija nauka i umetnosti / Војвођанска академија наука и уметности) or shortly VANU (ВАНУ) is an academic institution in Serbia in the Autono ...
, established on 14 December 1979 in
Novi Sad.
He is the first laureate of the Branko's award (Brankova nagrada) for poetry, established in honour of the poet
Branko Radičević
Aleksije "Branko" Radičević ( sr-Cyrl, Алексије Бранко Радичевић, ; 28 March 1824 – 1 July 1853) was a Serbian poet who wrote in the period of Romanticism.
Biography
Branko Radičević was born in Slavonski Brod on 1 ...
. In the year 1957 Popa received another award for poetry, Zmaj's Award (Zmajeva nagrada), which honours the poet
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj ( sr-cyr, Јован Јовановић Змаj, pronounced ; 24 November 1833 – 1 June 1904) was a Serbian poet.
Jovanović worked as a physician; he wrote in many poetry genres, including love, lyric, patriotic, pol ...
. In 1965 Popa received the
Austrian state award for European literature. In 1976, he received the
Branko Miljković
Branko Miljković (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Миљковић; 29 January 1934 – 12 February 1961) was a Serbian poet.
Biography
Miljković was born in Niš to a Serb father Gligorije Miljković, who hails from Gadžin Han, and a Croat m ...
poetry award, in 1978 the Yugoslav state
Award, and in 1983 the literary award
Skender Kulenović
Skender Kulenović (2 September 1910 – 25 January 1978) was a Yugoslav poet, novelist and dramatist.
Biography
Skender Kulenović was born in 1910 in the Bosnian town of Bosanski Petrovac (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), to Muslim ...
.
Vasko Popa died on 5 January 1991 in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
and is buried in the Aisle of the Deserving Citizens in Belgrade's
New Cemetery.
He was a good friend with French poet
Alain Bosquet
Alain Bosquet, born Anatoliy Bisk (russian: Анато́лий Биск) (28 March 1919 – 17 March 1998), was a French poet.
Life
In 1925, his family moved to Brussels and he studied at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, then at the Sorbonn ...
.
Style
Vasko Popa wrote in a succinct
modernist style that owed much to
surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
and
Serbian folk traditions (via the influence of Serbian poet
Momčilo Nastasijević) and absolutely nothing to the
Socialist Realism that dominated Eastern European literature after
World War II. He created a unique poetic language, mostly elliptical, that combines a modern form, often expressed through colloquial speech and common idioms and phrases, with old, oral folk traditions of Serbia – epic and lyric poems, stories, myths, riddles, etc. In his work, earthly and legendary motifs mix, myths come to surface from the collective subconscious, the inheritance and everyday are in constant interplay, and the abstract is reflected in the specific and concrete, forming a unique and extraordinary poetic dialectics.
In
The New York Times obituary, the author mentions that the English poet Ted Hughes lauded Popa as an "epic poet" with a "vast vision". Hughes states in his introduction to ''Vasko Popa: Collected Poems 1943-1976'', translated by Anne Pennington, "As Popa penetrates deeper into his life, with book after book, it begins to look like a universe passing through a universe. It is one of the most exciting things in modern poetry, to watch this journey being made."
Mexican poet and Nobel laureate
Octavio Paz said, "Poets have the gift to speak for others, Vasko Popa had the very rare quality of hearing the others."
Popa's ''Collected Poems'' translation by Anne Pennington with its introduction by Hughes is part of "The Persea Series of Poetry in Translation," general editor Daniel Weissbort. Premiere literary critic John Bayley of Oxford University reviewed the book in ''
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' and wrote that Popa was "one of the best European poets writing today."
Since his first book of verse, ''Kora'' (''Bark''), Vasko Popa has gained steadily in stature and popularity. His poetic achievement – eight volumes of verse written over a period of 38 years – has received extensive critical acclaim both in his native land and beyond. He is one of the most translated Serbian poets and at the time he had become one of the most influential World poets.
Legacy
In 1964, composer
Darinka Simic-Mitrovic used Vasko Popa's text for her song cycle ''Vrati Mi Moje Krpice''.
In 1995, the town of
Vršac established a poetry award named after Vasko Popa. It was awarded annually for the best book of poetry published in
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguation ...
. The award ceremony is held on the day of Popa's birthday, 29 June.
Works
Poetical oeuvre
* ''Kora'' (Bark), 1953
* ''Nepočin polje'' (No-rest Field),1965
* ''Sporedno nebo'' (Secondary Heaven), 1968
* ''Uspravna zemlja'' (Earth Erect) 1972
* ''Vučja so'' (Wolf's Salt), 1975
* ''Kuća nasred druma'' (Home in the Middle of the Road), 1975
* ''Živo meso'' (Raw Meat), 1975
* ''Rez'' (The Cut), 1981
* ''Gvozdeni sad'' (Iron Plantage), unfinished
Collections oeuvre
* ''Od zlata jabuka'' (''Apple of Gold''), a collection of folk poems, tales, proverbs, riddles, and curses selected from the vast body of Yugoslav folk literature, 1958
* ''Urnebesnik: Zbornik pesničkog humora'' (''Pealing Man: Collection of poetic Humour''), a selection of Serbian wit and humor, 1960
* ''Ponoćno Sunce'' (''Midnight Sun''), a collection of poetic dream visions, 1962
Major literary works available in English
*''Complete Poems.'', ed.
Francis R. Jones, co-tr.
Anne Pennington
Anne Elizabeth Pennington (1934-1981) was a British philologist specialising in Slavic studies. She was particularly interested in songs as well as the development of the language.
Life
Penninngton was born on 31 March 1934 to Janet Winifred ( ...
, introduction
Ted Hughes
Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
. Anvil, 2011.
* ''The Star Wizard's Legacy: Six Poetic Sequences'', trans.
Morton Marcus
Morton Marcus (1936–2009) was a poet and author having published more than 500 poems in literary journals across the country, including Poetry (Chicago), TriQuarterly, Ploughshares, Chelsea, The Chicago Review, The Iowa Review, Zyzzyva, Poet ...
(White Pine Press, 2010),
* ''Collected Poems'', Anvil Press Poetry, 1998
* ''Homage to the Lame Wolf: Selected Poems'', trans. Charles Simic (Oberlin College Press, 1987),
* ''Golden Apple'', Anvil P Poetry, 1980
* ''Vasko Popa: Collected Poems 1943-1976,'' trans.
Anne Pennington
Anne Elizabeth Pennington (1934-1981) was a British philologist specialising in Slavic studies. She was particularly interested in songs as well as the development of the language.
Life
Penninngton was born on 31 March 1934 to Janet Winifred ( ...
(Persea Books of New York, 1978)
* ''Earth Erect'', Anvil P Poetry, 1973
References
External links
Biographical informationPoem Hunter, All Poems of Vasko Popa*
ttp://www.serbiatravelers.org/en/literature/59-vasko-popa/517-poem-22 Poem no. 22 from the "Far Inside Us" collection by Vasko Popa, translated by Lazar PascanovicPoem "If not for Your Eyes" by Vasko Popa, translated by Lazar PascanovicPoem "Kalenics" by Vasko Popa, translated by Lazar PascanovicVasko Popa in Persian Anthology of World PoetryTranslated works by Vasko Popa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popa, Vasko
1922 births
1991 deaths
People from Bela Crkva
Serbian male poets
Yugoslav poets
University of Bucharest alumni
Yugoslav Partisans members
University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy alumni
Serbian people of Romanian descent
20th-century Serbian poets
Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery
Romanians of Vojvodina