Handful of Salt

by Kajal Ahmad, Alana Marie Levinson-Labrosse (Translation), Barbara Goldberg (Introduction)

The first full-length translation of work by the noted Kurdish poet and feminist. Says Christopher "How fortunate English-speaking readers are to have this selection of Ahmad's poems, expertly translated and edited by Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse and two Kurdish co-translators. Handful of Salt is a superb introduction to the work of an acclaimed Kurdish poet, whose chronicles of her walk in the sun mirror the complicated and tragic history of her people, in diverse forms and voices." Eve Ensler "These poems are intoxications, sensual rumblings from the core of a woman's fire, burning through homeland and body, casting off time and space, opening a new landscape, a territory beyond logic or right and wrong. These poems are revolutions of language, a bursting of feminine power. A stunning and revelatory collection of poems."

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2016

About the author

Kajal Ahmad (born 1967) is a contemporary Kurdish poet and journalist.

Reviews

[alexandra ༊*·˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

must own this one day. it is too perfect. she said it all so perfectly.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"but Earth cast me into the arms
of the universe. I became
a star in the sky and now
I have my own place and my own
desires and I am denser
with lives than Earth."

HOLY FUCK!!! THIS BOOK!!! I NEEDED THIS BOOK!!!
The poem "Celestial Friends" is now with out question one of my all time favorite poems!!!

I need to read more Kurdish poetry.

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly beautiful, wish I could read them in the original language

[alla · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dear homeland, you
are a lemon: at your name
the world’s mouth wells up.
Shivers come over me.

Oh, stranger,
you are a watermelon.
Until I dig i into your guts with a knife,
i cannot know who you a are.