Richard Brautigan is one of the well, yet still not well enough known literary names of the 20 th century. His literary legacy stands out among then prevailing Beat Generation literature. His style is very specific, and there was no such writing before his time. Brautigan's eccentricity added to the creation of some of the most remarkable literary writings of that period, and these works are still popular today. Brautigan never strove for approval or aimed to meet the standards of his era, which was visible in his personal life and his writings. He was not trying to stand out, he stood out because he remained faithful to himself. His tough childhood marked Brautigan for life, but despite of that he was very sensual and observant, which can be seen and felt in his literature. Brautigan's life is an important factor in the creation of his works, and that is why a fair amount of this thesis focuses on it. Because Brautigan's works are practically unknown in Slovenia I decided to translate the complete collection The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster. The main reasons for choosing this topic were the very genius and eccentricity of Richard Brautigan, his unique works, and the eternal question of the poetry translation. The literary translation is a problem for translators and authors themselves. Translating poetry is labelled as the most complex section of the literary translation. Poems cannot be translated verbatim, nor can they be translated only by sense. It is necessary to find the middle way which is influenced by many factors - the proximity of languages, the similarity of the form, the cultural backgrounds, the relevance of poetry ... The most crucial agent, influenced by all of the above listed factors, is the author themself, since the final product, the very translation, depends solely on them.
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