Cole Merrell reads Aleš Šteger’s “For You” (trans. Brian Henry) on November 8, 2019, as part of an NER Out Loud event at Middlebury College. “For You” was originally published in NER 40.1.

Cole Merrell ’21 recently returned to Middlebury College after a brief, two-year spiritual sabbatical. He is an English and Theatre double major from Arizona, a very hip state with lots of cacti. If you run in the same (very specific) circles as he does, you might have heard of his plays Chronic Blush or Luna and the Chupacabra, both of which have been performed in the Hepburn Zoo with varying degrees of professionalism.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aleš Šteger has published seven books of poetry, three novels, and two books of essays in Slovenian. His books in English include The Book of Things (BOA, 2010), Berlin 
(Counterpath, 2015), Essential Baggage (Equipage, 2016), and the novel Absolution
(Istros, 2018).

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Brian Henry has published eleven books of poetry, most recently Permanent State (Ahsahta, 2019). His translation of Aleš Šteger’s The Book of Things appeared from BOA Editions in 2010 and won the Best Translated Book Award and the Best Literary Translation into English Award from AATSEEL. He also has translated Tomaž Šalamun’s Woods and Chalices (Harcourt, 2008) and Aleš Debeljak’s Smugglers (BOA, 2015).