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Ilya Kaminsky

イリヤ・カミンスキー

Ilya Kaminsky

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1977-04-18 （Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English, Russian
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Odesa (birth–youth) → Rochester, New York (family resettlement) → New Jersey (resident; affiliated with Princeton)

Career

Occupations
poet, critic, translator, professor
Active Years
1994-
Affiliations
Words Without Borders (editorial), Poetry International (editorial), Princeton University (faculty/affiliation)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (member)
Influenced By
Paul Celan, Joseph Brodsky

Education

Georgetown University
Country: United States
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
Country: United States

Awards

Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Poetry)
2020
Work: Deaf Republic
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: winner
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
2020
Work: Deaf Republic
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result: winner
Academy of American Poets Fellowship
2019
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: recipient
National Book Award (Poetry)
2019
Work: Deaf Republic
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: finalist
National Book Critics Circle Award (Poetry)
2019
Work: Deaf Republic
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: finalist
T. S. Eliot Prize
2019
Work: Deaf Republic
Organization: T. S. Eliot Prize (Forward Arts Foundation)
Result: finalist
Forward Prize for Poetry
2019
Work: Deaf Republic
Organization: Forward Arts Foundation
Result: finalist
Guggenheim Fellowship
2018
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: recipient
Whiting Award
2005
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: recipient
Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship
2001
Organization: Poetry Foundation
Result: recipient
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected)
2023
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Result: elected
Carnegie Corporation Great Immigrant Award
2021
Organization: Carnegie Corporation of New York
Result: honoree
Prix Alain Bosquet
2022
Work: République sourde (French translation)
Organization: Prix Alain Bosquet (France)
Result: recipient
Premio Laudomia Bonanni
2022
Organization: Premio Laudomia Bonanni (Italy)
Result: recipient
Neustadt International Prize for Literature (finalist)
2013
Organization: Neustadt International Prize for Literature
Result: finalist
Lannan Literary Fellowship
2008
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: recipient
American Academy of Arts and Letters Metcalf Award
2005
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: recipient

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Musica Humana

2002 Poetry

Early collection of poems exploring voice, origin, and early themes of exile and sound.

originvoicememory

Dancing in Odesa

2004 Poetry

A poetry collection rooted in childhood memories of Odesa; one of his acclaimed early works.

homeJewish heritagememory
Translations
  • Spanish translation 'Bailando en Odesa'
  • German translation 'Tanzen in Odesa'

Deaf Republic

2019 Poetry (dramatic/lyric sequence)

A lyric sequence presented as a play about a town that responds to violence by embracing silence; explores war, censorship, and conscience.

warsilence and hearingcivic conscience
Translations
  • French translation 'République sourde'
  • Turkish translation 'Sağır Cumhuriyet'
  • Belarusian translation 'Рэспубліка глухіх'

Bibliography

  • Musica Humana (2002)
  • Dancing in Odesa (2004)
  • Sonya's Fairytale (2010)
  • It is the Soul that is Erotic (2017)
  • A Soul's Noise (2017)
  • Deaf Republic (2019)
  • I See a Silence (site-based poetry/installation, 2021)

Adaptations

  • I See a Silence (poetic installation, collaboration with Artangel/National Trust)

Translations by Author

  • Translations of Marina Tsvetaeva (e.g. Dark Elderberry Branch)
  • Translations of Polina Barskova

Translations of Works

  • Dansað í Ódesa (Icelandic translation)
  • Bailando en Odesa (Spanish translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical yet theatrical structureuses fable and symbolic elementsdelicate treatment of sound and silence
Recurring Motifs
silence and hearinghome and exilewar and censorshipmemory and family

Health

  • Hearing loss (caused by mumps)
    4歳で発症、以降の生涯に影響
    Hearing loss has deeply shaped personal experience and poetic themes, reflected in recurring motifs of silence and sound.

Legacy

A major contemporary poetic voice and advocate for translation and international poetry; Deaf Republic received widespread critical acclaim and many year-end best-book honors.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected)

Quotes

  • 'Deaf Republic' is a contemporary epic; it creates a republic of conscience with profound imagination.
    Source: Kevin Young, review in The New Yorker (2019)

Trivia

  • Became hard of hearing at age four due to mumps.
  • Family granted asylum to the United States in 1993; settled in Rochester, NY.
  • Began writing poems in English from 1994.
  • Spouse: writer Katie Farris.