Face Half-Illuminated

The book comprises the work of Danuta E. Kosk-Kosicka across a range of media: her own poems and essays, as well as her translations of the Poland-based poet Lidia Kosk (who is also her mother). The poems share themes and speak to each other across geographical and generational barriers. Lidia Kosk survived both World War II and the Communist regime that the Soviet Union introduced in Poland after the war; it was then the martial law imposed by that regime in 1981 that decided that her daughter would settle permanently in the States. In the essays, Danuta E. Kosk-Kosicka reveals how she, a scientist who arrived in the USA on a postdoctoral fellowship in biochemistry, has over the years turned to writing and translating poetry. The book is a set of meditations on history, family, identity, and border-crossings-for countries, languages, and senses of self.