Sochi Delirium: Poems [Paperback]

An unyielding fever of 103, the Sochi Olympics, and a state of inspirational semidelirium came together as Vladimir Azarov sat in front of his television, images swirled in his mind like a waltzing kaleidoscope. Memories from decades past were triggered as the Pussy Riot girls were being whipped by Cossacks. Marilyn Monroe ofSome Like It Hotbecame his muse while he composed recollections: his first trip to Sochi in 1962; sitting with Henry Moore at his home in Much Haddam; discussing verisimilitudes with Pasolini, art with Frank O’Hara, film and acting with Leni Riefenstahl; shock at terrorists killing Israelis in Munich. As the 2014 Games ended, his fever abated. This remarkable book of poems arose from those two weeks.

Vladimir Azarovis a Russian architect, poet, and translator. He is the author of the memoirMongolian Études, and his poetry collections includeBroken Pastries,Dinner with Catherine the Great,Imitation,The Kiss from Mary Pickford: Cinematic Poems,Night Out,Of Life & Other Small Sacrifices,Seven Lives, andVoices in Dialogue: Dramatic Poems. He lives in Toronto.