Songs of Exile

Absolutely loved this book! It was such an interesting take on so many different subjects. I especially loved the various relationships that are portrayed in this work, like the one's between the poet and the poem. It's a collection that will appeal to different kinds of poetry lovers. If you're into mythology, you'll love Songs of Exile. If you're into imagery, mysticism and nature poetry, you'll love it too! The best part about the aforementioned was that there was always a deeper and more meaningful issue or subject that was tied to the poems.

I can't really make my thoughts coherent enough to give a thorough review to this collection of poetry as I should be able to. Reminiscent of Don't Forget the Couscous, Zan's collection of poetry blends Iranian, Arab, and Greek tradition to create a book of poetry focused on Iranian and Arab experiences, as well as love. Her prose and her poetry are beautiful, and the way she uses adjectives in her sentence structure (sometimes without verbs, which somehow gets the meaning across better) is sharp and beautiful. She brings up several painful topics to the Arab/Muslim community, such as discrimination, doubting faith because you feel unsafe, acid attacks, Charlie Hebdo, and generalization of Arabs and Muslims.

These are strangely haunting poems drawing heavily on a range of traditions, including those of Islamic mysticism and Ancient Greece. Running through them are themes of exile, freedom, the desire for union with the divine, the search for a unity beyond human divisions and beyond the categorisations into which we tend to compartmentalise experience. Recent history - like the Iran-Iraq war and the Charlie Hebdo attack - is incorporated. Often ecstatic in a way reminiscent of Rumi, the poems include some mysteriously resonant lines, like "all night/ the moon is in mourning for metaphors".

These are poems structured in a way designed to force the reader to move beyond intellectualisation. If I have given the book 4 rather than 5 stars, it is because some of them use sexual imagery in a way which I found too blatant and out of keeping with the character and tone of the book as a whole.

I received the book as a review book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

These poems are some of the most beautiful words I have ever read, they are about so many different subjects and bring out the subjects so very beautifully!  They are easy to read, and very clear on the theme.  All poetry lovers should give this book a try, and I'm very sure you won't be disappointed.

I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Zan's poetry is a blurring of lines; at times limited to what and where we are, Zan shows us where man becomes woman, the follower becomes the deity, violence becomes peace, and borders are exchanged for sky.

While the first quarter of the book is a bit difficult to get into, it is carried by the language. Zan writes fluidly, with lines that spare the excess and get to the heart of small details and images that have a lasting effect. Her poems are reminiscent of early Persian and Sufi poets with similar themes but wrenches that beauty into the (often) ugly of today then turns every notion we may have on its head.

I will definitely be purchasing this book and keeping an eye out for her future ones.

Poem to highlight: "Assimilation," "Acid Attack," "Baba," "Letter to God."