Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Dmytro Dovgan.

“Moisei Fishbein’s poems speak to a universal sorrow and grief—one that seems inescapable. The poems are particularly poignant when today many, worldwide, cannot believe the level of violence human beings are still capable of carrying out. In this, poetry has no borders.”

Six Poems by Moisei Fishbein, translated by John Hennessy & Ostap Kin
A Conversation with Translator Ostap Kin—Moisei Fishbein: Diversity & Freedom


This is the tenth in our “Literature and Democracy” series. This quarterly column, curated by NER international correspondent Ellen Hinsey, presents writers’ responses to the threats to democracy around the world, beginning with a focus on Eastern Europe.