Yana Kane

Yana Kane came to the United States as a refugee from the USSR. She holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, and a PhD in Statistics from Cornell University. Having retired after a successful technical career, she is pursuing an MFA in Literary Translation and Poetry at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her recent and upcoming publications include 128 LIT, Allium, American Chordata, EastWest Literary Forum, The Los Angeles Review, One Art, Platform Review, RHINO Poetry, and Точка.Зрения/View.Point. "View.Point'' recognized her translations of poetry of witness from Ukraine and Russia as among the "Best of 2022." 128 LIT nominated her translation for the Deep Vellum Best Literary Translations Anthology 2025. Her bilingual poetry book, Kingfisher/Зимородок, was published in 2020.

Poet, translator, and artist Kristina Zeytounian-Belous (Кристина Зейтунян-Белоус) was born in Russia and has been living in France since her childhood. She writes poetry in Russian and French; her poems are published in periodicals, including Children of Ra, Zinziver, and Neva. A book of her poetry, Days of Predation, debuted in Paris in 2000. She has translated over 80 books from Russian into French; she was awarded the Russophonie best translation award for 2010 and 2019. As an artist, Zeytounian-Belous regularly exhibits in France and other countries; she has illustrated over 30 books.

The tenth sister

For Bruce Esrig

She has a family resemblance

to each of the myth-crowned nine,

yet blends in easily among the mortals:

an owlish, quiet woman,

neither voluptuously young,

nor venerably old.

At first,

I didn’t recognize her visitations —

just went where she led me —

and didn’t know that I followed a call.

With time,

I understood: translating poetry

takes more than wordcraft.

Hard work, persistence are the invitation,

the prayer for her gift,

that sudden gust that lifts a poem’s substance

across the chasm of the impossible.

But there’s no summoning her at will.

I used to think that her soft-spoken manner

came from a soft temperament,

a sheltered, bookish life.

I was mistaken.

Now,

when translation is a search and rescue mission,

when I’m stumbling, calling for the living

amidst the wreckage of a language torn by war;

when I’m among the ones

who’re listening and digging for the voices

buried by landslides of deception,

choked by grief,

her purposeful presence steadies

my shaking fingers

as she hands me

a needed word, a phrase:

“Here, try out this one.”

The Enemy  (English translation by Yana Kane)

Kristina Zeytounian-Belous

Кристина Зейтунян-Белоус

I was ready to take on anything

just to destroy the enemy

I let go of mercy and decency

just to destroy the enemy

sent my son to the slaughter

just to destroy the enemy

blinkered and duped my nation

just to destroy the enemy

razed hundreds of towns to the ground

just to destroy the enemy

spilled human blood in torrents

just to destroy the enemy

dying I finally saw it

I am the enemy