Naming the Dawn

Abdourahman A. Waberi

Translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson

 

5 x 8.5, 96 pp. April 2018

ISBN : 9780857425461

Rs  499.00 (HB)
$19.00 (HB)
£12.99 (HB)

Buy (HB)

They say the shortest route on a mountain range goes from one peak to the next. Step by step, word by word, following us in ancient footsteps, echoing ancient words, Abdourahman A. Waberi leads us in peace and confidence. Introspective and inquistive, these poems reflect a deep spiritual bond. As the poet becomes scholar, the sage yearns for the simplicity of each moment turned eternal. The poet revisits all the dawns that are part of him: mother, wife, the child he will father, the sacred texts that ground him.

 

Translated from the original French by Nancy Naomi Carlson, Waberi revives the tradition of the great poets of Islam who considered the Word as the core of their quests, and scholarship a solution to uncertainty. As each dawn resets the eternal cycle of the day, we must learn to face the sun and not be blinded by the vanity of being alive.

The French-Djiboutian novelist, poet and essayist Abdourahman A. Waberi is one of the leading francophone writers of his generation. His other books include The Land Without Shadow, Harvest of Skulls and Rifts, Roads and Rails.

 

Nancy Naomi Carlson is a winner of grants from the NEA, Maryland Arts Council and the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County. Author of three award-winning non-translated titles, she is also the author of Stone Lyre: Poems of René Char (2010).

Poetry
Africa List