Vera Rich: Difference between revisions

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'''Vera Rich''' (born '''Faith Elizabeth Rich''', 24 April 1936 – 20 December 2009<ref>{{cite journal|author=Vidal-Hall, Judith|title=Obituary: Vera Rich|journal=[[Index on Censorship]]|date=8 January 2010|url=https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2010/01/obituary-vera-rich/}}</ref>) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] poet, journalist, historian, and translator from [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]].

Born in London in April 1936, she studied at [[St Hilda's College, Oxford|St Hilda's College]] of the [[University of Oxford]] and [[Bedford College, London]]. In 1959, her poetry attracted the attention of the editors of [[John O'London's Weekly]] and the following year her first collection of verse, ''Outlines'', was privately produced and received favourable reviews, selling out within six months.<ref name=Portents>Rich, Vera. "Portents and Images". London, 1963 [blurb].</ref>

Her translations of the works of [[Taras Shevchenko]], commissioned for the century of his death (1961), received excellentfavourable reviews, both in the West and in the Soviet Ukraine. For this work, Rich was awarded an Honorary Diploma in Shevchenko Studies by the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences.<ref name=Portents />

Later, influenced by Fr [[Ceslaus Sipovich]], she started also translating Belarusian poetry. Her first translation from Belarusian was the poem "Na čužynie" by [[Janka Kupala]]. Her novel ''[[Like Water, Like Fire]]'', published in 1971, became the world's first anthology of translations of Belarusian poetry into a western European language. Later she published ''The Images Swarm Free'', a collection of translations of verses by prominent Belarusian authors, including [[Alés Harun]], [[Maksim Bahdanovič]] and [[Źmitrok Biadula]]. Rich inspired a number of other British people such as [[Alan Flowers|Dr Alan Flowers]] to become involved in promotion of Belarusian culture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=People {{!}} Anglo-Belarusian Society|date=26 October 2013 |url=https://absociety.org.uk/people/|access-date=2021-05-25|language=en-US}}</ref>

Rich was the founder of ''Manifold'', "the magazine of new poetry". It was started in 1962 and appeared regularly under her editorship until May 1969, when it was suspended owing to her taking a job as Soviet and East European Correspondent for the scientific weekly ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''. At the time of its suspension ''Manifold'' had close on 900 subscribers, almost half of them in the USA. This initially temporary job at ''Nature'' lasted for more than 20 years. It was only in 1998 that it proved possible to relaunch ''Manifold''. All together, 49 issues were published under Rich's editorship. It published original high-quality poetry in traditional and innovative styles, in various variants of English, and – from time to time – in major European languages, as well as translations of poetry from less-known languages.

File:Vera Rich Belarus flag.jpg|On [[St Pancras and Islington Cemetery|St Pancras cemetrycemetery]] in London, 2008

* {{cite journal|title=Americans cancel visits in protest over Orlov|journal=Nature|date=25 May 1978|volume=273|issue=5660|pages=258|doi=10.1038/273258a0|bibcode=1978Natur.273..258R|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|s2cid=4187105|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Whose tongues are tied?|journal=[[Index on Censorship]]|date=May 1989|volume=18|issue=5|pages=31|doi=10.1080/03064228908534648|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|s2cid=144234367|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Never mind the language|journal=Index on Censorship|date=March 1995|volume=24|issue=2|pages=12–13|doi=10.1080/03064229508535886|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|s2cid=146891183|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Poland's anti-abortion law and a fertility clinic|journal=The Lancet|date=17 June 1995|volume=345|issue=8964|pages=1563|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(95)91102-2|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|pmid=11644704 |s2cid=32248286}}

* {{cite journal|title=Hitch in implementing Russia's HIV-prevention law|journal=The Lancet|date=12 August 1995|volume=346|issue=8972|pages=432|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(95)92797-2|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|pmid=7623578|s2cid=27290662|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Japanese war-time experiments come to light|journal=The Lancet|date=26 August 1995|volume=346|issue=8974|pages=566|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(95)91396-3|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|pmid=11644727|s2cid=43573195|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Russia plans to raise tax on imported pharmaceuticals|journal=The Lancet|date=6 January 1996|volume=347|issue=8993|pages=52|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(96)91578-0|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|s2cid=54362152|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Influenza epidemic in Russia likely to stay|journal=The Lancet|date=20 January 1996|volume=347|issue=8995|pages=182|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(96)90353-0|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|s2cid=54422499|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Russia to start anti-poliomyelitis vaccination campaign|journal=The Lancet|date=3 February 1996|volume=347|issue=8997|pages=319|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(96)90489-4|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|s2cid=54256238|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Hitches in implementing organ-donation law in Poland|journal=The Lancet|date=16 March 1996|volume=347|issue=9003|pages=754|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(96)90099-9|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|s2cid=54318937|doi-access=free}}

* {{cite journal|title=Chernobyl's dirty legacy lives on|journal=The Lancet|date=27 April 1996|volume=347|issue=9009|pages=1178|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(96)90630-3|last1=Rich|first1=Vera|pmid=8609766 |s2cid=43673948}}