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Book of Poems: "If we can see
Death looming, like a dark island on the navigator's horizon
then we won't be shocked when time's run out. This means
a life without our primal fear. That's why we travel."
In the spaces between evanescence and memory, Alizadeh finds grace, wit and fire. From the opening poem's hymn to mobility and renewal to the elegiac ending, form Tehran to the Gold Coast, Ashes in the Air sparks with wisdom and energy.
'This intense and beautiful book follows the trace of air-borne ashes across the blinded worlds of the present. Alizadeh's powers of technique ruffle the veils of thought and affect.' JUSTIN CLEMENS
'A poetry of watchfulness . . . upon the crucial questions of what it means for a language to speak truthfully, to witness or to fabricate, and to what end, and to what ultimate good.' LOUIS ARMAND
