Help Zachariah Wells Present His Work in Mexico

Cactus Press has signed on to create a chapbook for Zach Wells‘ reading at the Linares International Literary Festival in March. The chapbook will feature Spanish translations of Zach’s poems by Lidia Valencia Fourcans, and will be available in both print and digital format.

Zach is attempting to raise money to offset the cost of his trip, and the chapbooks will be given to those who offer support. If you’re interested in acquiring one, click here.

The Sleeper in the Valley and Other Translations

The first Cactus Press title of 2012 is Marc di Saverio’s Sleeper in the Valley and Other Translations. Marc was recently named one of Simply Haiku’s top-10 Living English Language Haiku Poets, and I’m thrilled to have him back after publishing Sanatorium Songs in 2010.

Copies are selling for $5.00. If you’re interested in purchasing one, email me at jim.johnstone@utoronto.ca.

Here’s a sneak preview of the title poem, translated from Arthur Rimbaud, and originally published in Maisonneuve:

THE SLEEPER IN THE VALLEY

It’s a green ravine with a river that sings
and madly clings to silvery tatters
on the grasses—a little valley bubbling
with beams of a sun that scatters

from the noble peak. A young soldier, helmetless,
open-mouthed, bathing his nape in the cool blue cress,
sleeps; he’s under clouds, pale, outspread
where light is raining down on his green bed.

With his feet in the gladioli, he sleeps. Smiling how
a sick kid smiles, he’s catching some zees.
Nature, cradle him closely, he’s

cold. Smells won’t make his nostrils quiver now.
One hand on breast, asleep in the sun, he’s pacified;
there are two red holes in his right side.