
ALT Book cover: MOTHERFIELD: Poems and Belarusian Protest Diary by Julia , translated from Belarusian by Valzhyna Mort and Hanif Abdurraqib Image text: Walcott Poetry Prize, 2022 Short List. MOTHERFIELD, Julia Cimafiejeva, tr. Valzhyna Mort and Hanif Abdurraqib. Deep Vellum. www.arrowsmithpress.com/walcott-winners

ALT Testimonies August 7, 202 only women testify in this strange town one speaks of a missing child two speak of the tortured in the basement three repeat what rapes and avert their eyes four speak of the screams from the military headquarters five speak of the executed in their own yards six speak but are incomprehensible seven check food supplies counting out loud eight call me a liar because there is no justice nine talk on their way to the cemetery I’m also on my way because I know them all in this town its dead are my dead its survivors are my sisters ten speak of a survivor, a man he’s returned from captivity he could testify I knock on his door, a neighbor opens. “It seems like he has survived, all right,” she says. “Go talk to the women.” —Victoria Amelina (1986-2023) Translated from Ukrainian by Valzhyna Mort

























