Yara Arts Group presents evening of poetry in New York (06/15/97)

Yara Arts Group presents evening of poetry in New York

by Catherine Zadoretzky

NEW YORK - Ukrainian poet Oksana Zabuzhko has been awarded this year's Poetry Prize by the Global Commitment Foundation. The presentation took place at the Ukrainian Institute of America on May 16. It was celebrated as a highlight of Yara Arts Group's most recent poetry event, Hot House, an evening of poetry on heart and home.

Ms. Zabuzhko lives in Kyiv and is the author of three poetry collections: "May Frost" (1985), "The Conductor of the Last Candle" (1990) and "Hitchhiking" (1994). Her poems have appeared in translation in such major American literary magazines as Agni, Poetry Miscellany, Harvard Review, International Poetry Review and Visions International. A book of her work in English translation, "A Kingdom of Statues," was published last fall in Toronto by Wellspring Press. Ms. Zabuzhko's poems have always been favorites at Yara's various poetry readings and theater workshops at Harvard.

A group of talented actors presented the poetry that night. The beautiful and passionate Olga Shuhan, who has frequently worked with Yara in the past, read poems in the original Ukrainian, as did a new voice in the Yara ensemble, Xenia Piaseckyj. Richarda Abrams, who won the hearts of those who attended Yara's "Silver Threads" poetry event, was back with resonant readings of Ludmyla Taran's "How Much Garbage" and "Blues." Zabryna Guevara found the perfect ironic tone for Ms. Zabuzhko's "Letter From the Summer House" about a new natural mystery of mad trees "turned rust colored" by "recent acid rains."

A special surprise of the evening was the presentation of "Seven Japanese Poems." Startling miniatures by Buson, Shiko, Soseki and others were read by Katie Takahashi in Japanese, Ms. Guevara in English and Ms. Piaseckyj in Ukrainian. The seventh poem, an 11th century piece by poetess Izumi Shikibu, was sung by Ms. Takahashi and Ms. Guevara, and in Ukrainian by Marianna Vynnytsky. Music for the piece was written by Obie-Award winner Genji Ito, Yara's resident composer.

Hot House was an event that opened the hearts of Ukrainian poetry-lovers to the global language of poetry. Ms. Zabuzhko's "A Portrait: K.M. Hrushevska" read by Jennifer Rohn put just this spirit into words:

"Katherine Mykhailivna, Miss Kate, who became dust/ Not in the camps - but in the stars: the heavens glow with you./

For all the innocently executed historians of wasted nations You are the first defense and the last-standing guard..."

The reading was followed by a reception and a demonstration of poetry on the World Wide Web.

Yara's summer will be spent in part at its 10th annual theater workshop at Harvard, where some of the Hot House poems will be presented.

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