Oleh Kowerko (Ukrainian: Олег Коверко; born May 7, 1937) is a Ukrainian and American poet. He is a member of the New York Group of Poets.[1] He served as a President of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA).
Life and career
He was born in Vaha, a village near Pidhaitsi, Ternopil region. He completed secondary education in New York City and a college degree at the University of Chicago in general literature. In 1971 he was one of the founders of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA). He served in multiple positions: 1971–1974, treasurer; 1974–1992 and 1995-200 president; 2007– secretary. He left the literary scene in the 1970s. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Poetry
His first poems were published in the mid-1960s, in the second poetry collection Slovo from the Ukrainian Writers Association, Modernity (Suchasnist) and New Poetry journals in 1965. Oleh Kowerko is an author of two books of poetry in Ukrainian:
- Eskizy nad viddallyu (Sketches over Distance) in 1966,
- Vtecha (Escape) in 1969.
An example :
SKETCHES OVER DISTANCE
Distance – a willful breath of a distant wind, sprinting through drowsy fields, untangling green grass mounds with touches of bare feet.
Distance – a stolen gift of trimmed roses that bring back memories and you in low tides of this herbal warmth.
Distance – a thought weary from vigor that pulsates with harsh constant rhythm, penetrates with a stem of solitude through bars of kaleidoscopic sentiments.
Distance — a white flicker of wings on the streams of palms that branch the sway of trees and trembling of white marble on a tract of blue currents.
— Oleh Kowerko translated by Olga Gerasymiv.
References
- ↑ "Literature, Exile, Alterity: The New York Group of Ukrainian Poets". Academicstudiespress.com. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
External links
- "UIMA". Uima-chicago.org. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
- "New York Group". Encyclopediaofukraine.com. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
- Oleksandr Fraze-Frazenko (August 30, 2016). "Aquarium in the Sea. Oleh Kowerko: Distance". Retrieved February 26, 2017 – via YouTube.