Sunday 17 July 2016

Songs Of Exile by Banoo Zan


Songs Of Exile by Banoo Zan
Published in Canada in April 2016 by Guernica Editions

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy the paperback from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

'The poems, arranged chronologically, give an impressionistic account of the poet as an immigrant, in quest of her inner voice and her core self, in the new land. They reveal intense isolation, despite engagement with the so-called political, religious, and cultural disparities between the two countries. The poems tell the story of how the speaker comes closer to her roots by leaving her country behind. They reveal her concern about the Middle East; the negative associations with her country, Iran; her preoccupation with the possibility of reconciliation between the three Abrahamic religions; her concerns about her family back home, and her newly found friends and lover. For the persona in these poems, the political is personal.'

I have struggled to read this poetry collection a couple of times now, but unfortunately it is beyond me and I haven't been able to connect with Banoo Zan's words. There are powerful image flashes in a few of the poems and I am sure that if I were more knowledgeable about Persian culture and about ancient Greek mythology I would get a lot more out of the work. Sadly I was mostly just baffled.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Banoo Zan / Poetry / Books from Iran

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