The exhilarating reading Friday night brought together four accomplished poets, three of whose works are difficult to find in English. Nadja Marie Aidt, of Denmark and Greenland, joined valter hugo mãe from Portugal, the American Barry Gifford and Pavel Nastin, from Russia. In the classic venue of the Bowery Poetry Club - brick walls, scarred black-painted stage, club banner - and surrounded by coffee house ambiance, we could have been in Copenhagen, San Francisco, Moscow or Lisbon.

After the bossy announcer (also classic) forced a few cheers from the audience, Nadja Aidt took the stage. We were instantly carried into the world of people who care about poetry. Intimate and vulnerable, Aidt is a poet of exile, with far-ranging interests. A poem taking us...