Tomaž Šalamun

GOBICE

Language: slovenian
Translations: czech (HOUBIČKY), german (SCHWÄMMCHEN), english (LITTLE MUSHROOMS), finnish (PIENET SIENET), polish (GRZYBKI), slovak (HRÍBY), serbian (GLJIVICE)

GOBICE
II

Namreč tako je z vso to zadevo
najboljše stvari so gobice
gobice v juhi
nič nič nič nič
                                         
                                          fiuuuuu ena gobica
en zelen peteršiljček v smokingu
pa dolgo dolgo časa tema
potem stečejo po snažilko
ki je za to odgovorna
nič nič nič nič

                                          fiuuuuu še ena gobica
zdrava sicer
le kri ni ena A
ker je prebolela hepatitis
Težke so težke te gobice
težke v božjo mater

© Tomaž Šalamun
From: Poker
Ljubljana : samozaložba, 1966
Audio production: Študentska založba

Tomaž Šalamun

photo © Jože Suhadolnik
* 04.07.1941, Zagreb, Croatia
† 27.12.2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tomaž Šalamun was born in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1941, and was regarded as one of Slovenia’s greatest contemporary poets and one of the leading figures of the East European poetic avantgarde. His poetry is marked by a unique surrealistic style. Since the 1960s he has published 41 volumes of verse, which have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Šalamun grew up in Koper in the former Yugoslavia. Under Tito’s rule he was arrested in 1964 for publishing a poem that was taken to be critical of the regime, but was able to leave prison after five days thanks to a wave of international protest. Šalamun has for decades been a wanderer between worlds, spending several years in the USA where among other things he was a guest of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a Fulbright Fellow at Columbia University. He taught in American universities and was cultural attaché at the Slovenian Embassy in New York. The many prizes he has won for his work include the Pushcart Prize, the Slovenian Prešeren Prize and, jointly with his German translator the Fabjan Hafner, the Prize of the City of Münster for International Poetry. He was a member of the Slovenian Academy for Arts and Sciences and lived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, until his death on December 27, 2014.

photo © Jože Suhadolnik
Publications

  • Poker

    Ljubljana: samozaložba, 1966

  • Namen pelerine

    (Edicija Oho)

    Ljubljana: samozaložba, 1968

  • Romanje za Maruško

    Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1971

  • merika

    Maribor: Obzorja, 1972

  • Bela Itaka

    Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1972

  • Ein Stengel Petersilie im Smoking

    (German translation)

    Frankfurt a.M.: Fisher Verlag, 1972

  • Arena

    Koper: Lipa, 1973

  • Turbines

    University of Iowa: Windhover Press, 1973

  • Sokol

    Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1974

  • Snow

    West Branch, Iowa: Toothpaste Press, 1974

  • Imre

    Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1975

  • Turbine

    Maribor: Obzorja, 1975

  • Druidi

    Koper: Lipa, 1975

  • Praznik

    Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1976

  • Zvezde

    Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1977

  • Metoda angela

    Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1978

  • Po sledeh divjadi

    Koper: Lipa, 1979

  • Zgodovina svetlobe je oranžna

    Maribor: Obzorja, 1979

  • Maske

    Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1980

  • Balada za Metko Krašovec

    Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1981

  • Analogije svetlobe

    Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1982

  • Glas

    Maribor: Obzorja, 1983

  • Sonet o mleku

    Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1984

  • Soy realidad

    Koper: Lipa, 1985

  • Ljubljanska pomlad

    Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1986

  • Mera časa

    Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1987

  • The Selected Poems of Tomaž Šalamun

    Edited by Charles Simic, Introduced by Robert Hass

    New York: ECCO Press, 1988

  • Živa rana, živi sok

    Maribor: Obzorja, 1988

  • Otrok in jelen

    Celovec/Salzburg: Wieser, 1990

  • Wal

    (German translations)

    Graz: Droschl Verlag, 1991

  • Hiša Markova

    Ljubljana: Aleph, 1992

  • The Shepherd, the Hunter

    Translated and edited by Sonja Kravanja (Columbia University Translation Prize)

    Santa Fe: Pedernal, 1992

  • Glagoli sonca

    izbrane pesmi

    Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1993

  • Alleen in jou heb ik gegorgeld van geluk

    translated by Raymond Detrez

    Leiden (BL): Plantage, 1995

  • Ambra

    Ljubljana: Mihelač, 1995

  • Homage to Hat and Uncle Guido and Eliot

    Selected poems

    edited by Charles Simic, introduction by Robert Hass

    ARC Publications International Poets, United Kingdom, 1997

  • The Four Questions of Melancholy

    Selected and New Poems

    edited by Christopher Merrill, [Nominated for the 1997 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry]

    New York: White Pine Press, 1997

  • Feast

    edited by Charles Simic, introduction by Edward Hirsch

    New York: Harcourt Brace, 2000

  • Gozd in kelihi

    [Wood and Chalices]

    Ljubljana: Cankarjeva Založba, 2000

  • A Ballad for Metka Krasovec

    Prague: Twisted Spoon Press, 2001

  • Table

    [Tablets]

    Poetry

    Maribor: Litera, 2002

  • The Book for My Brother

    translated by Anselm Hollo, Christopher Merrill, Matthew Rohrer, Phillis Levin and others

    Orlando: Harcourt, 2006

  • Wink an die Sphinx

    Gedichte

    Aus dem Slowenischen von Fabjan Hafner

    Münster: Daedalus Verlag, 2007

  • Woods and Chalices

    translated by the author and Brian Henry

    Orlando: Harcourt, 2008

Awards

  • 1999 Prešeren Prize

  • 2007 Preis für Europäische Poesie (Münster, Germany)

  • 2009 Golden Wreath (Struga, Macedonia)

Links

  • Tomaž Šalamun @ Poetry International Web

    More poems of Tomaž Šalamun in original and english translations and further information about the poet.

    Website (en)

  • Tomaž Šalamun Poetry Centre

    was opened on Dec 27,2016 in Ljubljana

    Website

  • Tomaž Šalamun reads his poetry

    and answers questions from David Rivard, poetry editor at the Harvard Review, and discusses his poetic influences, including his childhood.

    Website

  • Lyrikschaufenster: Monika Rinck spricht über „Lesen: Lieben“ von Tomaž Šalamun

    Website
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