Catullus

“Mitchell beautifully translates Catullus, retaining the original poems’ hendecasyllabic form while lending a punchy, plucky voice to the ancient poet. . . . Catullus’s verses still ring true, reminding readers that the habits of the heart haven’t changed in millennia.”—Publishers Weekly

“Stephen Mitchell is the Broadway of literary translation. . . . He’s glitzy and accessible, and almost uniformly entertaining.”—Jim Kates, Arts Fuse

“For Roman audiences of the early first century B.C., the coruscating poems of this miniaturist would indeed have come as a shock, displaying a level of precision and wit that, together with their often-scurrilous subject matter, had only been seen in Greek predecessors. Stephen Mitchell’s polished new translations preserve the original luster.”—Robert Erickson, New Criterion

“What a dream combination, Stephen Mitchell and Catullus! I’ve always loved Catullus for his irreverence, his passion, his idiosyncratic voice, which echoes down the centuries. Now Mitchell has made him one of us, a contemporary poet whose verse unveils the human condition in all its madness and grace. Mitchell’s rare poetic gift shimmers through these translations.”—Jay Parini, author of New and Collected Poems, 1975–2015

“The genius of Stephen Mitchell in these new translations is to make a friend of Catullus—a new incarnation of this bad boy ancient Roman poet, for ‘all those who are sensitive to beauty.’”—Daniel Halpern, author of Something Shining and founding publisher, Ecco

“Is there any language that Stephen Mitchell can’t bring to life for readers of English? Here, in his first foray into Latin, he does for Catullus what he’s already done for Rilke, Neruda, and Yehuda Amichai: capture a great lyric voice with freshness, vigor and energy. This version belongs on the bookshelf of every poetry reader.”—James Romm, author of Demetrius: Sacker of Cities and The Sacred Band: Three Hundred Theban Lovers Fighting to Save Greek Freedom and series editor, Ancient Lives