Oxford University Press will publish a book of essays by Carmen Bugan (RC 1996), Poetry and the Language of Oppression, this August (June in the UK). The press release notes that the book “offers an autobiographical practicing poet’s perspective on writing about Cold War government surveillance and political oppression; discusses the process of ‘writing oneself free’ by adopting a second language, and makes the case for the necessity of individual, personal testimony in literature; and contributes an understanding of the language of oppression, and the concepts of freedom and liberty of the individual in a conflict-riven society.” More about the book at the Oxford University Press website. (For a 30 percent discount, use code AAFLY66).
Carmen was born in Romania and emigrated to the United States in 1989. After U-M she earned an MA in creative writing from Lancaster University, and a MA and PhD (English Literature) from Oxford University, UK. Her poetry collections include Crossing the Carpathians (2004), The House of Straw (2014), Releasing the Porcelain Birds (2016) and Lilies from America: New and Selected Poems (2019). She has also published a memoir, Burying the Typewriter (2012), and Seamus Heaney and East European Poetry in Translation: Poetics of Exile (2013). She teaches at the Gotham Writers Workshop in NYC and lives in Long Island.
