Via what Ilya Kaminsky and Jean Valentine call "readings"—not translations—of fragments of Marina Tsvetaeva's poems and prose, Tsvetaeva's lyrical genius is made accessible and poignant to a new generation of readers. By juxtaposing fragments of her poems with short pieces of prose, we begin to know her as poet, friend, enemy, woman, lover, and revolutionary. was born in Moscow in 1892 and died in 1941. Her poetry stands among the greatest works of twentieth century Russian writers. is the author of (Tupelo Press, 2004) which won the Whiting Writers' Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Metcalf Award, the Dorset Prize, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship awarded annually by magazine. won the Yale Younger Poets award for in 1965. Her eleventh book of poetry is , from Copper Canyon Press. was the winner of the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry.