A Dove Under My Hand: Sapphic Writings by Marina Tsvetaeva - Paperback

Infused with sapphic desire, A Dove Under My Hand: Sapphic Writings by Marina Tsvetaeva presents three works: Story of Sonechka, "Girlfriend Poems," and "Letter to an Amazon," all newly translated by Sonja Franeta. Story of Sonechka, a novella, is composed of fragments, conversations, and verse exploring Tsvetaeva's romance with Russian actress, Sonya Holliday; it was one of the last works that Tsvetaeva completed before her death. The "Girlfriend Poems" are Tsvetaeva's love lyrics to Russian poet Sofia Parnok. Seven additional poems extend this lyrical cycle. Contemplating queer love and the tension between romantic passion and maternal instinct, "Letter to an Amazon" is Tsvetaeva's response to Natalie Barney's Pensées d'une Amazone. Expertly translated, all these writings explore lesbian love in rich and complex ways, brimming with emotional intensity and literary intelligence. These works stand among the earliest to shine a light on queer love in Russia, at a time when both were taboo and rare. An afterword by Olgerta Kharitonova, publisher of the former Russian zine Ostrov, offers a vivid, multifaceted portrait of Tsvetaeva's meaning to queer women in Russia and its diaspora. A Dove Under My Hand highlights Tsvetaeva's lesbian writings and cements her enduring legacy as a writer of radical emotional honesty and queer literary defiance.