Don't forget to say thank you: Patchwork prose and more

Marina Boroditskaya is a poet and translator of English, French, and Polish poetry. She is the author of the poetry books “It Turns Out, You Can”, “Ode to Myopia”, “Truant and Truant Girl”, and others. Among her translations, the most... notable are “Troilus and Cressida” by Chaucer, “In the Name of Love: English Cavalier Poets of the 17th Century”, “The Comedy of Errors” by Shakespeare, as well as numerous books by children's poets, including Dr. Seuss and Julia Donaldson. “Don't forget to say thank you, stand up, and leave on time…” — this is how a complete line from Marina Boroditskaya's poem sounds, which closes this book of truly patchwork prose. It contains a poignant memoir story “Pushkinskaya, 17” about childhood and growing up in the very heart of thawing Moscow, secrets of translation mastery, and memories of friends-colleagues-translator-poets, as well as miniatures from notebooks... And of course, the book is generously sprinkled with verses. "I terribly want to write prose, but laziness overcomes me. It really does overwhelm! You inadvertently stumble into poetry." (Marina Boroditskaya)