Contours of the City

Ukrainian poet Attyla Mohylny (1963-2008) died prematurely at the age of 45. He completed his philology degree at Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University and worked mostly as a teacher, editor and journalist during his abbreviated lifetime. He authored two books of poetry early in his career: Tumbler Pigeons above the Rooftops (1987) and Contours of the City (1991) along with the text for the exquisitely illustrated children's book Mavka and the Ant King in 2006. He continued to work on writing short stories and a novel until his death. He was part of the transitional and transformational group of Ukrainian writers who dramatically turned from Soviet-imposed censorship to create new directions and a new poetics for Ukrainian culture. The poetry of Mohylny's Contours of the City completely breaks with the tradition of rhyme and meter that dominated Ukrainian poetics until only recently and, except for Kyivan realia, fits seamlessly into Western late modernity. Contours of the City arguably comprises one of the finest collections of free verse ever written in Ukrainian even though it was largely overlooked when it first appeared during the political transition to Ukrainian independence in 1991. It certainly deserves a broader audience both in Mohylny's homeland as well as in the wider world. While it may be described as a one-hit wonder because of the poet's premature death, it remains a brilliant hit for all time.