Reviews
“We have no finer poet writing today, and very few her equal.” —San Francisco Review of Books
“One of the best poets around… a national treasure.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“[Kizer] writes poetry as she translates it, the test of a true poet.” —James Finn Cotter, Hudson Review
“If I could choose only one word to describe [Carrying Over]… that word would have to be rich. Rich as in: bountiful, opulent, generous; rich as in: sorrows, vibrant, full.” —Mary Zeppa, Poet News
“This is a book lush in its varieties of language and writing style, and it is Kizer’s deftness that controls the material keeping the cultures discrete while at the same time ensuring that they complement each other… Kizer sustains a sense of travel throughout—the poetry is supple and the exoticism of each society is limpid, and memorable.” —Publishers Weekly
“[In Carrying Over] Kizer manages to bring to life the distinctive voices of poets from many different cultures and even different centuries… Kizer proves adept at adapting difficult foreign poetry into English. Her translations are clear, precise, and visual… Her translations of T’ang Dynasty poet Tu Fu contain lines of verse as delicate and translucent as slices of melon, and rank among the most accomplished in the collection. They are lively, graceful and finely etched. Despite many intervening centuries, despite differences in language and culture, Kizer… has accomplished the translator’s most difficult task: bringing to life on the page the mannerisms and particularities of a sharply individual human voice.” —Nick O’Connell, Seattle Weekly
“It is a flexible hand that holds up for us the poems in Carrying Over, making them shimmer and come alive, letting us hear… lasting poetry but also words spoken by real people in real, if sometimes beleaguered, culture… This is not a tame collection. It offers a world bloodied as well as given blood, a world like… glass bangles—full of sharp, perhaps dangerous voices.” —Lisa M. Steinman, Calapooya Collage
“A fascinating collection of poems translated from Chinese, Urdu, Macedonian, Yiddish and French African stands alongside original poetry and prose that has obviously benefited from a glut of cross-cultural understanding.” —Book People
“Since many of the poets included in this collection have never been translated into English before… [Carrying Over] gives us a glimpse into worlds previously unknown to most American readers.” —Elliott Bay Booknotes
“World traveler, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and founder of Poetry Northwest, Kizer presents translations of hard-to-find international poets… These [are] carefully crafted translations… In this mini-anthology… Kizer broadens our Western self-preoccupation with her urbane vision.” —Library Journal