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Mark Ostrowski, Poet
Mark Ostrowski can be reached at mostrow@lander.es. or Apdo. 796,
E-33200 GIJON, ASTURIAS, SPAIN. He has several telephone numbers: National: 98 535 3037 [fax] / 929 89 0605 .
The son of Polish immigrants, he was born in 1971. His childhood was spent mostly in Deptford, New Jersey, a town known for its
once prosperous pig farms. He was a star basketball player until the age of thirteen, when a freak eye accident forced him to abandon the hardwood forever. It was around this time that he began reading a great deal, although quality books were in short supply in the Ostrowski household. He recalls there being “many bodybuilding magazines piled up in the garage, and an occasional Hustler buried under some of the stacks.”
At the age of twenty-three Ostrowski left for Europe. His decision to leave the land of milk and money did not sit well with his parents, who thought their son was trying to purposefully blacken the family name. “So long, dummy,” was the last thing his father said to him before leaving.
Although never a standout student, Ostrowski has demonstrated certain ability in winning scholarships. Most recently, he was awarded an Erasmus grant to Denmark. “What makes this one special,” he says, “is that only Europeans are eligible for it. I applied, figuring I’d be shot down right away, but they never even asked about my nationality.”
For the last four years he has been living in Spain. Recently, he has moved to Asturias, the region with the highest unemployment rate in the country; and needless to say Ostrowski has not fared particularly well as far as moneymaking is concerned. “When McDonald’s wouldn’t hire me,” he says, “I
knew I was in trouble.”
To make ends meet he turned to translation. “Being a translator is good,” he admits, “because you never have to see your clients. Also, if you can’t be a practitioner, this at least lets you come pretty close.”
Early poetic influences were such rap artists as Schoolly D, Cool C, and KRS-1, among others. He credits Fonseca, Onetti, and Cendrars with providing him with key insights into narrative form. Thomson’s Freedom is a Bullet and Baraka’s Funk Lore were the last full-length books of poetry he has read.
Ostrowski’s poetry and poetry translations have appeared in several electronic magazines, and most recently in CrossConnect, Pif, and The Cortland Review. So far his poetic endeavors have earned him a total of $5. Although the check has yet to arrive, Ostrowski is optimistic that the editor will make good on his promise.
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