Irina Ratushinskaya will forever be known as the poet who was arrested for her writing, sentenced to a Soviet prison camp, and who continued in the face of persecution to write new poems. She wrote them on bars of soap, memorized them, and then washed away the "evidence." Irina is a recognized poet in both the international community and the United States. Cornerstone Press Chicago is proud to bring out a new collection of Irina's poems. A number of them represent her time in prison from 1982 until 1986 when the International Pen Congress agitated for her release. Many of Irina's newer poems tell the story of her journey out of imprisonment into a changing world of estrangment and exile. From a faith forged through suffering, Irina continues to explore, bringing new light to the journey. Since 1992 the poetry world has not heard from Irina. This collection, Wind of the Journey, will let her many readers see how her writing has matured. Since her release Irina has lived abroad with her husband, Igor, and twin sons Oleg and Sergei, born in 1992. In late 1998 Irina and her family were permitted to return to Russia. Thus, a new journey back to her homeland. No looking back.

0-940895-44-7, 5.5 x 9 paperback 113 pages, $12.70

* Forty-seven poems, all new translations

* Dual language book in both Russian and English

An internationally acclaimed poet, Irina Ratushinskaya has been described as "a remarkably genuine poet, a poet with faultless pitch, who hears historical and absolute time with equal precision."