Belarusian artist Ales Pushkin, recognized as a political prisoner, died last night in the intensive care after being transported there from prison under unclear circumstances.

For 155 days we know nothing about Maria Kalesnikava. For more than 5 months, she has been hidden even from her relatives. There is no certainty about Maria’s health or about the conditions she is kept in. There are no letters, no calls to relatives, no meetings with the lawyer.

Five months with neither contact nor news from Belarusian political prisoners Maria Kalesnikava and Maxim Znak.

Thank you, Kate, for highlighting Belarusian language. It survived 250 yrs of Russian attempts to erase it. On Stalin’s orders, our writers were executed, books destroyed. But it lived among illiterate country people. Today again, one can be detained for it and tortured to death.

Political prisoner Leanid Sudalenka was released & gave an interview. Out of physical & psychological torture he endured, what moved me most is that his 84-y.o. mother was told that the whole time he was “abroad to make money.” Meaning: doing work Europeans hire foreigners to do.

Working on this piece on Volodymyr Vakulenko broke my heart multiple times, but never so much as the day I finished writing it. theguardian.com/world/2023/jul…

My new collection of poems Creature is now available for pre-order! Thank you to everyone at Four Way Books and also to Jericho Brown, @dorothealasky, and @valzhynamort for their kind words. fourwaybooks.com/site/creature/…

Gut-wrenching Victoria Amelina poem in The New Yorker, translated from the Ukrainian by Valzhyna Mort.

We’re thrilled that MOTHERFIELD is on the short list! “Julia Cimafiejeva’s is a voice not to be silenced, and her translators [Valzhyna Mort & Hanif Abdurraqib] render the power of that Belarusian voice with equal power in English” —Robin Davidson, Arrowsmith Press Congrats to all!

Read the "Extraordinary Life of Tadeusz Kosciuszko in Several Invoices" by Valzhyna Mort and more poems in @BestAmPo #TheBestAmericanPoetry2023 by David Lehman and guest edited by Elaine Equi, available 9/5! spr.ly/6015Pe7Zx

To mark lawyer Maksim Znak's third birthday in prison, the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers published a video with readings from his book "Zekameron". Maksim wrote the book while in detention. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for defending our freedom.

Edith Grossman, acclaimed translator, dies at 87 Her translation of Don Quixote was described as ‘indisputably definitive.’ Her many accolades included Spain's Order of Civil Merit in 2016 and the 2006 PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation. theguardian.com/books/2023/sep… #RIP

#Belarus Someone recently asked me why protests lost momentum. What a cynical expression to describe killing, torture and brutal arrests that never stopped since 2020. I needed to find a video from that time and found some that helped "lose momentum." This car had Russian plates.

We are pleased to announce that Norma Cantú will judge the 2024 Ambroggio Prize, a $1,000 publication prize given for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation; and that Valzhyna Mort will judge the 2024 Harold Morton Landon

Join us for a reading by novelist Imbolo Mbue on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 5:00 p.m. in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall, the first of the Fall 2023 Barbara & David Zalaznick Reading Series English at Cornell events.cornell.edu/event/reading_…

The Harold Morton Landon Translation Award is a $1,000 award that recognizes the work of a translator for a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in 2023. The judge is Valzhyna Mort. Deadline: 2/15/24. Learn more: poets.org/academy-americ…

Kwame Dawes THE POETRY MANUSCRIPT AS MIX-TAPE Obsidian Foundation Masterclass for those working towards a collection by a true poetry master. Tuesday, 24 October 2023 from 14:00 to 17:00 (BST) Somerset House 15 spots @ £25.00. Link in bio.

Please join us and World Poetry Books on 10/5 at 6 PM for a reading from "kochanie today i bought bread" with the author and poet Uljana Wolf and a conversation among Greg Nissan, Valzhyna Mort, and Uli Baer. More details and RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

I'll never forget the victims of the Hroza attack at the Kharkiv morgue — almost all civilians. I saw only one body in military uniform. I saw a small boy, his little toes sticking out of his socks. A woman with a French manicure. Bodies without heads. washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/…

Publishers, submissions to the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award are open until 2/15/24. The $1000 award recognizes a poetry collection translated from any language into English & published in 2023. The judge is Valzhyna Mort. Learn more: poets.org/academy-americ…