Ondra Lysohorsky on Poetry

 I'm having trouble finding anything by Lysohorsky in print in Northern Utah's libraries - either college or public, so I'm beginning to mine the internet.

"My poetry is humanist poetry. It speaks up for the best in people.
At my age, I’ve had enough of politics. I’ve been a victim of
brown fascism and for years I’ve been muzzled by red fascism.
But a poet has a duty to speak up for humanity and the lasting
verities. That’s why I never give up. That’s why I’m delighted
when some man or woman in France or Greece or Japan or in any
other corner of the world reads my poems in translation. It’s a
minor victory!"

 

Óndra Łysohorsky

Gill, David
1978-1979 ‘Ondra Lysohorsky – poet of Lachia (1978/9)’. Cine film (Super 8).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjI9cPCd20

(English translation presumably by David Gill; accessed 17 November 2014).

 

Quote and citation from

SUSANNA WITT
PASTERNAK, ŁYSOHORSKY AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF “UNHEROIC” TRANSLATION

Russian Literature LXXVIII (2015) III/IV