Description
Poetry. Middle Eastern Studies. This sequence of short lyrics explores love, the most ancient of subjects in the most contemporary and immediate ways. The varying poetics of both ancient and modern Arabic poetry inflect this book-long exploration of the materiality of the body, negotiating the terrain of love, and its denials. Zaher explores the landscape of life fraught with disappointments and occasional triumphs through fragments, lyrics, metatextual pauses, stutterings, translations of ancient poetry and the occasional late-night email. This epic foray into fraught emotional territory is alive with Zaher's particular gift of keen observation, deft whimsy and superb intelligence.
"Totally alive, funny, sharp, shapely, and never dull."—Wayne Koestenbaum
"Maged Zaher uses his poetry and prose to tackle both traditional and new explorations of eros. His lyrical outbursts and stark, dry declarative statements illuminate romance in a way that clinical discussions cannot hope to duplicate."—Joseph Sills
Author Bio
Maged Zaher is the author of THE CONSEQUENCES OF MY BODY (Nightboat Books, 2016), IF REALITY DOESN'T WORK OUT (SplitLevel Texts, 2014), THANK YOU FOR THE WINDOW OFFICE (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2012), THE REVOLUTION HAPPENED AND YOU DIDN'T CALL ME (Tinfish Press, 2012), and PORTRAIT OF THE POET AS AN ENGINEER (Pressed Wafer, 2009). His collaborative work with the Australian poet Pam Brown, FAROUT LIBRARY SOFTWARE, was published by Tinfish Press in 2007. His translations of contemporary Egyptian poetry have appeared in Jacket Magazine, Denver Quarterly and Banipal. He has performed his work at Subtext, Bumbershoot, the Kootenay School of Writing, St. Marks Project, Evergreen State College, and American University in Cairo, among other places. Maged is the recipient of the 2013 Genius Award in Literature from the Seattle weekly The Stranger.
Author City: SEATTLE, WA USA