Translator’s Note
In the spring of 2020, I received a memorable birthday gift from writer Birutė Putrius: a small green book of poems titled Metūgės [new shoots; young shoots]. The poetry—written some seventy years earlier by another Birutė—tells a woman’s story through striking imagery, musical free verse, bold themes, and enigmatic meanings. Intrigued by the originality, power, and beauty of the female voice in this collection, I translated the first poem. And continued.
     Grateful for the opportunity, I reviewed my translations of all 33 poems with literary scholar Violeta Kelertas. She noted that her father was the Toronto publisher of this 1952 first edition.
     In researching Pūkelevičiūtė’s debut book, I found previous English and Spanish translations of some of the poems, with varying approaches to the originals (see Selected Resources below).     
     All the while, I kept revising: considering the interconnectedness of the poems; striving for musicality through techniques such as alliteration; seeking “the best words in the best order” to reflect the Lithuanian originals with their dramatic dashes and sentence fragments, as well as word-gender and other language play where possible.
     Stanza divisions differ somewhat between the first and later editions. In the absence of an available manuscript, I follow the stanza structure of the first edition, also treating page breaks within poems as stanza breaks.
     Lineation presents another challenge. The first edition prints the poems with a justified right margin, while later editions are set ragged right. The poet’s intended line breaks are therefore not always certain. I have sought to preserve the broadly similar line lengths across editions, breaking lines where syntax, rhythm, and meaning seem to indicate.      
     Thank you to my husband, Seymour Kellerman, for co-creating this website—New Shoots 100: Poetry of Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė—launched in November 2023 to mark the poet’s birth centennial. I continue to refine the translations and update the site as new materials appear.
     I am grateful to translator Birutė Vaičjurgis Šležas for offering translation alternatives and helping bring Metūgės to English-language readers.
     I am grateful as well to others: translator Birutė Bersėnienė for her perspective on thorny linguistic questions; my sister, Audra Misiūnienė, for material about the poet’s work; Nijolė Petrauskienė and her daughter Ugnė for a copy of Atradimo ruduo [autumn of discovery], Pūkelevičiūtė’s other book of poetry (published in 1990 and still not fully translated; a second Lithuanian edition came out in 2026).
    Thanks also to Tom Daley, Laraine Flemming, Jean Martin, and Ralph Pennell for their insightful comments on the English poems and website text.
    Finally, thank you to Archbishop Gintaras Grušas, the poet’s copyright holder, for permission to publish and to Virginija Babonaitė-Paplauskienė, an effective liaison and Pūkelevičiūtė enthusiast.

Selected Resources in English

Comments
Please send comments to Aušra Kubilius (Massachusetts, USA): ausmkub@gmail.com