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Also by Nathalie Handal:

Language for a New Century, April 2008
Paperback

Also by Ravi Shankar:

Language for a New Century, April 2008
Paperback

Also by Tina Chang:

Language for a New Century, April 2008
Paperback

LANGUAGE FOR A NEW CENTURY
By: Nathalie Handal, Ravi Shankar, Tina Chang

Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond

W. W. Norton
April 2008
On Sale: April 7, 2008
560 pages
ISBN: 0393332381
EAN: 9780393332384
Paperback
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Fiction Poetry

A landmark anthology, providing the most ambitious, far- reaching collection of contemporary Asian and Middle Eastern poetry available.

Language for a New Century celebrates the artistic and cultural forces flourishing today in the East, bringing together an unprecedented selection of works by South Asian, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian poets as well as poets living in the Diaspora. Some poets, such as Bei Dao and Mahmoud Darwish, are acclaimed worldwide, but many more will be new to the reader. The collection includes 400 unique voices—political and apolitical, monastic and erotic—that represent a wider artistic movement that challenges thousand-year-old traditions, broadening our notion of contemporary literature.

Each section of the anthology—organized by theme rather than by national affiliation—is preceded by a personal essay from the editors that introduces the poetry and exhorts readers to examine their own identities in light of these powerful poems. In an age of violence and terrorism, often predicated by cultural ignorance, this anthology is a bold declaration of shared humanity and devotion to the transformative power of art.

Media Buzz

All Things Considered - June 3, 2008