Catullus is a companion of lovers and of those whom love has disappointed. He is also a satirical and epigrammatic writer who savagely consoles with laughter. Carmina captures in English both the mordant, scathing wit and also the concise tenderness, the famous love for reluctant Lesbia who is made present in these new versions. A range of English metres and rhymes evoke the epigrammatic power of the many modes and moods of this most engaging, erotic and influential of the Latin poets. He left a mark on Horace, Virgil, Ovid and on the lyric and epigrammatic traditions of all the languages of Europe. Of Len Krisak's Horace translations, Frederic Raphael said, '[He] enables us both to enjoy a fresh voice and to hear (and see), very distinctly, what lies behind and within his unintimidated rescripts'. Again in Carmina he works his precise magic.

GAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS (84 - 54 BC) was born in Verona to a wealthy family. He spent his early adulthood in Rome, with time out for service in the province of Bithynia. 'Lesbia', the love object of many of his Carmina, may have been notional or based on a real person. He greatly influenced the poetry of Horace, Virgil, and Ovid. LEN KRISAK was recipient of the Richard Wilbur and Robert Frost Prizes. He has translated the works of Horace, Virgil and Ovid. His work has appeared in the Antioch Review, Hudson Review and PN Review.