Boris Dralyuk
@bdralyuk.bsky.social
My Hollywood & Other Poems (Paul Dry Books); translate Babel, Zoshchenko, Kurkov, et al.; odds & ends @nybooks.com, @thetls.bsky.social, etc.; teach at @utulsa.bsky.social; EiC @nimrodjournal.bsky.social
Pinned
Boris Dralyuk
@bdralyuk.bsky.social
· Sep 5
It feels right to see the faces of so many hopeful and weary, desperate and giddy men just outside the gates of success on the cover of SIDETRACKED. Voloshin’s poignant, funny poem ennobles their dreams and struggles as much as it does his own. Thank you, @pauldrybooks.bsky.social!
We came to LA as refugees from the USSR in 1991. Life wasn’t easy, but we persevered and, I dare say, came to contribute something of worth to this nation.
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
November 14, 2025 at 5:34 PM
We came to LA as refugees from the USSR in 1991. Life wasn’t easy, but we persevered and, I dare say, came to contribute something of worth to this nation.
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Cannot wait to read your work!
2026 MONTREAL PRIZE JURY MEMBER
BORIS DRALYUK
Boris Dralyuk is the author of “My Hollywood and Other Poems” (@pauldrybooks.bsky.social, 2022), and an award-winning translator and critic.
Find him @bdralyuk.bsky.social and bdralyuk.wordpress.com!
#poetry #PoetryPrize #poet #poem #poetrycommunity
BORIS DRALYUK
Boris Dralyuk is the author of “My Hollywood and Other Poems” (@pauldrybooks.bsky.social, 2022), and an award-winning translator and critic.
Find him @bdralyuk.bsky.social and bdralyuk.wordpress.com!
#poetry #PoetryPrize #poet #poem #poetrycommunity
November 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Cannot wait to read your work!
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
Sharing Wilfred Owen's last and greatest poem, "Strange Meeting," for Veteran's Day 2025 (formerly known as Armistice Day after World War I.)
The off-rhymes and quasi-Miltonic half-blank verse point towards a road not taken in English-language poetry.
@bdralyuk.bsky.social
The off-rhymes and quasi-Miltonic half-blank verse point towards a road not taken in English-language poetry.
@bdralyuk.bsky.social
Strange Meeting
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared With piteous recognition in fixed eyes, Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless. And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,— By his dead smile I kne...
www.poetryfoundation.org
November 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Sharing Wilfred Owen's last and greatest poem, "Strange Meeting," for Veteran's Day 2025 (formerly known as Armistice Day after World War I.)
The off-rhymes and quasi-Miltonic half-blank verse point towards a road not taken in English-language poetry.
@bdralyuk.bsky.social
The off-rhymes and quasi-Miltonic half-blank verse point towards a road not taken in English-language poetry.
@bdralyuk.bsky.social
Declan Ryan’s newest in @newyorker.com is the most accomplished poem I’ve seen in a major mag in some time—a poem that dignifies the little intimacies of one couple’s growing bond (watch the rhymes), and in so doing dignifies the inner spaces of all our lives. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
November 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Declan Ryan’s newest in @newyorker.com is the most accomplished poem I’ve seen in a major mag in some time—a poem that dignifies the little intimacies of one couple’s growing bond (watch the rhymes), and in so doing dignifies the inner spaces of all our lives. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
Feed: "Boris Dralyuk"
By: bdralyuk on Sunday, November 9, 2025
By: bdralyuk on Sunday, November 9, 2025
Face to Face with Alexander Voloshin
A woman recently reached out to me after finding the snippets of my translation of Alexander Voloshin’s Sidetracked: Exile in Hollywood. Attached to her email was the photo above. Her parents, who …
bdralyuk.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Feed: "Boris Dralyuk"
By: bdralyuk on Sunday, November 9, 2025
By: bdralyuk on Sunday, November 9, 2025
A 🧵 about the magic of translation:
A woman recently reached out to me after finding snippets of my version of Alexander Voloshin’s mock epic of exile in Hollywood, SIDETRACKED, on my blog. Attached to her email was a photo: 1/5
A woman recently reached out to me after finding snippets of my version of Alexander Voloshin’s mock epic of exile in Hollywood, SIDETRACKED, on my blog. Attached to her email was a photo: 1/5
November 9, 2025 at 4:44 PM
A 🧵 about the magic of translation:
A woman recently reached out to me after finding snippets of my version of Alexander Voloshin’s mock epic of exile in Hollywood, SIDETRACKED, on my blog. Attached to her email was a photo: 1/5
A woman recently reached out to me after finding snippets of my version of Alexander Voloshin’s mock epic of exile in Hollywood, SIDETRACKED, on my blog. Attached to her email was a photo: 1/5
First landing for Voloshin! And in what hands!
People, you know I don’t ask for much. Do me a favor: get a copy. It’s my pride and joy.
People, you know I don’t ask for much. Do me a favor: get a copy. It’s my pride and joy.
In the mail: very excited to see ARC of 𝑆𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑: 𝐸𝑥𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑, a "mock epic" (yes, it's in verse !), by Alexander Voloshin (tr. @bdralyuk.bsky.social ), coming from @pauldrybooks.bsky.social (4/2026) www.pauldrybooks.com/products/sid...
Sidetracked: Exile in Hollywood
Translation and Introduction by Boris Dralyuk98-page paperback / 5.5" x 8.5" / ISBN 9781589882126Publication Date: 4/21/2026 (available for preorder)The first English translation of a 1953 mock epic o...
www.pauldrybooks.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:16 PM
First landing for Voloshin! And in what hands!
People, you know I don’t ask for much. Do me a favor: get a copy. It’s my pride and joy.
People, you know I don’t ask for much. Do me a favor: get a copy. It’s my pride and joy.
Do tune in to hear work you won’t soon forget!
Please join us on Friday, November 14, at 2pm CST, to celebrate and hear the winners of NIMROD’s annual literary awards, Michael Lavers and Talia Neffson, with judges Randall Mann and Nancy Jooyoun Kim.
Zoom address in post below.
Zoom address in post below.
November 5, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Do tune in to hear work you won’t soon forget!
Cynthia Cruz is one of the most stimulating poetic voices in the air today. I could not be more excited to hear her read from her new book, SWEET REPETITION (@uchicagopress.bsky.social) in Tulsa on Thursday, Nov. 20. Come out, Oklahomans! www.eventbrite.com/e/sweet-repe...
Sweet Repetition: A Reading by Cynthia Cruz
Eventbrite - Tulsa Artist Fellowship presents Sweet Repetition: A Reading by Cynthia Cruz - Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 205 E Archer St, Tulsa, OK. Find event and ticket information.
www.eventbrite.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Cynthia Cruz is one of the most stimulating poetic voices in the air today. I could not be more excited to hear her read from her new book, SWEET REPETITION (@uchicagopress.bsky.social) in Tulsa on Thursday, Nov. 20. Come out, Oklahomans! www.eventbrite.com/e/sweet-repe...
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
Am I the oracle of Orkin?… The rats of Los Angeles have much to celebrate this week. Below is the poem I contributed to a new high school guide to the flora and fauna of the LA River, illustrated by student Katie Sakamoto.
October 31, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Am I the oracle of Orkin?… The rats of Los Angeles have much to celebrate this week. Below is the poem I contributed to a new high school guide to the flora and fauna of the LA River, illustrated by student Katie Sakamoto.
If I could dance, I’d be dancing at the sight of the latest @thetls.bsky.social! Simon Morrison, who knows all there is to know about 20th-C. music, has written a humdinger of a piece on Vernon Duke’s memoir and poems, out now from @pauldrybooks.bsky.social! www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
October 29, 2025 at 3:56 PM
If I could dance, I’d be dancing at the sight of the latest @thetls.bsky.social! Simon Morrison, who knows all there is to know about 20th-C. music, has written a humdinger of a piece on Vernon Duke’s memoir and poems, out now from @pauldrybooks.bsky.social! www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...
This summer the great @amitmajmudar.bsky.social approached a number of accomplished poet-translators (mistakenly including me) to reflect on particularly tricky challenges. I’m grateful to him and MARGINALIA for this opportunity to share a Julia Nemirovskaya poem. Read the piece below!
October 27, 2025 at 1:50 PM
This summer the great @amitmajmudar.bsky.social approached a number of accomplished poet-translators (mistakenly including me) to reflect on particularly tricky challenges. I’m grateful to him and MARGINALIA for this opportunity to share a Julia Nemirovskaya poem. Read the piece below!
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
The Hecht Prize contest is open through Dec. 1. Poets, send your manuscripts!
www.waywiserbooks.org/the-anthony-...
www.waywiserbooks.org/the-anthony-...
Writerfolk: the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize contest opens tomorrow. Poets with no more than one published full-length collection are eligible. A. E. Stallings will be this year's judge. Send your work!
October 26, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The Hecht Prize contest is open through Dec. 1. Poets, send your manuscripts!
www.waywiserbooks.org/the-anthony-...
www.waywiserbooks.org/the-anthony-...
This week two crackerjack documentarians who have been shooting a film about translation flew out to Tulsa to follow up with me and to capture my graduate seminar on the theory and (mostly) practice of the craft. My brilliant @utulsa.bsky.social students did not disappoint! They never do.
October 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
This week two crackerjack documentarians who have been shooting a film about translation flew out to Tulsa to follow up with me and to capture my graduate seminar on the theory and (mostly) practice of the craft. My brilliant @utulsa.bsky.social students did not disappoint! They never do.
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
Spotter Observations
All morning the news
goes south,
geese mobilizing
abaft
a leader's bluster.
The sky
rumpled camouflage.
No clear
outlook for these days.
(A poem so old I've forgotten which book it's in, but it first appeared in Innisfree Poetry Journal.)
All morning the news
goes south,
geese mobilizing
abaft
a leader's bluster.
The sky
rumpled camouflage.
No clear
outlook for these days.
(A poem so old I've forgotten which book it's in, but it first appeared in Innisfree Poetry Journal.)
October 26, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Spotter Observations
All morning the news
goes south,
geese mobilizing
abaft
a leader's bluster.
The sky
rumpled camouflage.
No clear
outlook for these days.
(A poem so old I've forgotten which book it's in, but it first appeared in Innisfree Poetry Journal.)
All morning the news
goes south,
geese mobilizing
abaft
a leader's bluster.
The sky
rumpled camouflage.
No clear
outlook for these days.
(A poem so old I've forgotten which book it's in, but it first appeared in Innisfree Poetry Journal.)
A beautiful and not at all expensive copy of George Sterling’s 1911 collection “The House of Orchids” came with a private message from California’s bohemian past—an inscription to Ida Winship, who, with her husband Ed, loved to take Sterling and his pal Jack London out for spins.
October 24, 2025 at 6:39 PM
A beautiful and not at all expensive copy of George Sterling’s 1911 collection “The House of Orchids” came with a private message from California’s bohemian past—an inscription to Ida Winship, who, with her husband Ed, loved to take Sterling and his pal Jack London out for spins.
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
Today marks the official launch of my new poetry confection, THE TRAVELS OF BLAD J. GARAMOND:
www.measurepress.com/measure/cata...
www.measurepress.com/measure/cata...
October 2, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Today marks the official launch of my new poetry confection, THE TRAVELS OF BLAD J. GARAMOND:
www.measurepress.com/measure/cata...
www.measurepress.com/measure/cata...
Happy birthday to Johnny Carson (1925-2005), the dreamy subject of Austin Allen’s elegiac sonnet from 32 POEMS. “Carson”/“stars in”… The things @austinwriting.bsky.social does…
October 23, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Happy birthday to Johnny Carson (1925-2005), the dreamy subject of Austin Allen’s elegiac sonnet from 32 POEMS. “Carson”/“stars in”… The things @austinwriting.bsky.social does…
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
A novella?
In verse?
About Russian exiles?
In Hollywood?
Translated by @bdralyuk.bsky.social?
How nice that they're publishing books just for my very exact specific tastes! Not sure what the rest of you will do.
(Due next April)
In verse?
About Russian exiles?
In Hollywood?
Translated by @bdralyuk.bsky.social?
How nice that they're publishing books just for my very exact specific tastes! Not sure what the rest of you will do.
(Due next April)
October 22, 2025 at 1:50 AM
A novella?
In verse?
About Russian exiles?
In Hollywood?
Translated by @bdralyuk.bsky.social?
How nice that they're publishing books just for my very exact specific tastes! Not sure what the rest of you will do.
(Due next April)
In verse?
About Russian exiles?
In Hollywood?
Translated by @bdralyuk.bsky.social?
How nice that they're publishing books just for my very exact specific tastes! Not sure what the rest of you will do.
(Due next April)
Reposted by Boris Dralyuk
Don’t read this for my sake—my future is all used up. Read it for Kenneth Fearing, Alfred Hayes, and Weldon Kees. They’ve still got it. libertiesjournal.com/online-artic...
Two Crooked Streets: A Proposed Genealogy of Noir Poetry
Lovers of noir are generally aware that the term was initially applied to the works of a set of US authors and filmmakers in retrospect, from afar, when the French were first granted access to films t...
libertiesjournal.com
October 19, 2025 at 10:39 AM
PTA’s versions are neat and all, but I maintain that George Axelrod’s LORD LOVE A DUCK (1966) is the best Pynchon adaptation we’ll ever get. How they managed to make it the same year that CRYING was published I’ll never know. How did they make it at all? youtube.com/watch?v=QOCg...
October 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
PTA’s versions are neat and all, but I maintain that George Axelrod’s LORD LOVE A DUCK (1966) is the best Pynchon adaptation we’ll ever get. How they managed to make it the same year that CRYING was published I’ll never know. How did they make it at all? youtube.com/watch?v=QOCg...
I love the mellifluous movement of these lines, which meditate on and mimic the transition of night into day, of season into season, of experience into memory. Poured gold.
Today our newsletter readers received two vivid, meditative poems from Rowan Ricardo Phillips’s new sequence, “Gold.” These appeared in our Summer 2025 issue.
October 17, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I love the mellifluous movement of these lines, which meditate on and mimic the transition of night into day, of season into season, of experience into memory. Poured gold.
I have just finished reading, if that’s the word for it, Daniel Elkind’s “book that tells the bones that someone has been looking for them.” It is a work of hair-raising love for those who have become “living letters on the other side of grammar.” There is nothing else like it.
October 17, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I have just finished reading, if that’s the word for it, Daniel Elkind’s “book that tells the bones that someone has been looking for them.” It is a work of hair-raising love for those who have become “living letters on the other side of grammar.” There is nothing else like it.
Billions of dollars pumped into one Latin American nation, gunboats deployed off the coast of another—it all brings to mind a 1918 anglophone poem by Nicaragua’s Salomón de la Selva (1893-1959), with whom Millay, by the way, “had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.”
October 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Billions of dollars pumped into one Latin American nation, gunboats deployed off the coast of another—it all brings to mind a 1918 anglophone poem by Nicaragua’s Salomón de la Selva (1893-1959), with whom Millay, by the way, “had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.”