Kim Simonsen is a Faroese writer and researcher from the island of Eysturoy. He completed his PhD in Nordic Literature at the University of Roskilde and has authored seven books as well as numerous essays and academic articles. He is the founder and managing editor of Forlagið Eksil, a Faroese press that has published over 20 titles. In 2014, Simonsen won the M.A. Jacobsen Literature Award for his poetry collection Hvat hjálpir einum menniskja at vakna ein morgun hesumegin hetta áratúsundið (What good does it do for a person to wake up one morning this side of the new millennium, forthcoming in English translation from Deep Vellum Publishing in 2024). His latest poetry collection, Lívfrøðiliga samansetingin í einum dropa av sjógvi minnir um blóðið í mínum æðrum (The biological composition of a drop of seawater is reminiscent of the blood in my veins, 2023) is nominated for the 2024 Nordic Council Literature Prize.

[3 UNTITLED POEMS] by Kim Simonsen, trans. Randi Ward

In this millennium
you are like a bird that flew into a window,
a forgotten landscape,
a watch stopped on a wrist,
yellowing wallpaper.  
Like the only guest
at every hotel.
If you hate yourself in this town,
you are not alone.




















Summer is full
of signs without singularity.
A little spider
crawls on the wallpaper,
turns around, and hides.
From distant
mountain cliffs,
bedstraw hawk-moths.
Incorrectly
catalogued epochs.















What good does it do
to return
to this seashore?
The clear water smells
of tidal pools and tears.
The sun cleaves the water 
like a diamond blade.








Randi Ward is a poet, translator, lyricist, and photographer from West Virginia. She earned her MA in Cultural Studies from the University of the Faroe Islands and has twice won the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Nadia Christensen Prize. Her work has appeared in Asymptote, Beloit Poetry Journal, Words Without Borders, and World Literature Today; her work has also been featured on Folk Radio UK, NPR, and PBS NewsHour. She is a recipient of Shepherd University’s Appalachian Photography Award, and Cornell University Library established the Randi Ward Collection in its Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in 2015. For more information, visit randiward.com.

Headshot credit: Perry Bennett

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