To mark the tenth edition of the Maintenant interview series…

The 3am magazine Maintenant series aims to evidence, through discussion with Europe’s most exceptional young poets, the continued pertinence of poetry for a new generation of talent from a diverse selection of European poetic traditions. The interviews, and the poetry that accompanies them, have shown the slow dissolution of stylistic recalcitrance, internal bias to gender and race, methodological snobbery and poetical jingoism. The fusion of poetic expression inevitable in a world of increased communication, access and political freedom is remarkable and cause for optimism where so often there is pessimism in poetry circles. The range and depth of poetry on display, and it’s standard, is a small representation of what each nation is producing.

The Maintenant dictum is to introduce poets that might lie outside of the Anglo-American scene, or be overlooked until they have reached the prominence of middle age. Though not an orthodoxy, we also aim to introduce poets who might be considered experimental or seminal.

The series is published each Sunday at www.3ammagazine.com and features an extensive interview coupled with a selection of poetry of the poet’s choosing in English translation. The first ten editions can be found below, with links to both interview and poetry.

The first Maintenant reading to accompany the series will take place Saturday May 29^th at the Rich Mix arts centre in London, located near Brick Lane. www.richmix.org.uk Three Romanian poets – Adrian Urmanov, Ruxandra Novac and maintenant featured Elena Vladareanu will be in attendance to read recent work. Entrance is free and the event begins at 7pm.

More about Maintenant here.