The Odesa – UNESCO City of Literature Office continues to introduce readers to the project “Poetry in Cities of Literature.”
Planned for over a year, the project showcases examples of contemporary poetry from sister cities within the UNESCO Cities of Literature network.
The latest installment of the poetry series focuses on the German city of Heidelberg, which celebrated the 10th anniversary of its UNESCO City of Literature status last year.
Beyond promoting literary art, the initiative highlights the crucial support offered by UNESCO Cities of Literature: from festival invitations and translation assistance to artist residencies. These connections enable Ukrainian authors to cross borders, reach new audiences, and preserve their creative voices on the global stage. At its core, “Poetry in Cities of Literature” emphasizes mutual cultural enrichment, fostering an open exchange where books, ideas, and traditions travel freely, inspiring and uniting people worldwide.
Ralph Dutli, born in 1954 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, lived in Paris from 1982 to 1994 and has since resided in Heidelberg, the UNESCO City of Literature. He is a poet, novelist, essayist, and translator. His novel Soutine’s Last Journey received several literary awards and has been translated into various languages, including Ukrainian (Books/Knyhy XXI, Chernivtsi; translated by Khrystyna Nazarkevych, 2017). The translation of the poem “Maibanner” comes from the Anthology of contemporary German-language poetry from Switzerland in Ukrainian and Russian translations, edited by Evgenia Lopata, Meridian Czernowitz 2021. The Ukrainian translation for the Anthology was prepared by Petro Rychlo.
We invite you to listen to Ralph Dutli’s poem in the original language.
May Banner (Maibanner)
I have strokes of luck for you
invented misfortunes demolition heaps
there you lie rust-free in the midst of all
glories of chance paradises thought dead
the truth is smaller!
smaller than a hair? As it
is true when you love
I have (kept) an idyll poet
in a stone house for so long
fed with sweepings and he
mocks me with a blossom
of strict poetry!
The project was created by the Odesa UNESCO City of Literature and being implemented with funds raised by Reykjavik City of Literature Reykjavík Bókmenntaborg UNESCO as part of the readings initiated by Milano City of Literature “Not Just Words” (Reading for Odesa) on February 24, 2024.
