Weissbort’s intention was to end his tenure with the series Modern Poetry in Translation with an issue devoted, in part, to Eastern Europe, as the first book in the MPT series (1965) was largely devoted to this region or, more precisely, to the first post-War generation of poets, such as Zbigniew Herbert, Miroslav Holub, and Vasko Popa. In this most recent volume of MPT, Weissbort explores the changed landscape of the past thirty years, including interviews with writers of succeeding generations and a few survivors from the Herbert generation.

Other features of Looking Eastward include a broad selection of MPT cofounder Ted Hughes’ unpublished translations from various languages and time periods, and a selection of work from student translators.