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tatyanavogt's review
4.0
3.75 but rounded up
I really liked a good number of the poems, but there was also a handful that I didn't connect with. Overall had a good time. I will admit that I can't help but wonder how the translations changes/effected them, what may be lost in translation. A lot of them were very accessible and easy to follow and their were some notes in the back to explain specific people, names or words which wasn't necessary for most of the poems but cam in handy for the few that needed them.
I really liked a good number of the poems, but there was also a handful that I didn't connect with. Overall had a good time. I will admit that I can't help but wonder how the translations changes/effected them, what may be lost in translation. A lot of them were very accessible and easy to follow and their were some notes in the back to explain specific people, names or words which wasn't necessary for most of the poems but cam in handy for the few that needed them.
kleonard's review
4.0
This is a much-needed book, as there is almost no other Sudanese poetry in English translation on the market. While the introduction is repetitive and the translations often awkward, the poems are nonetheless striking and urgent. I was especially struck by the sense of mortality and the horrors of the recent civil war in Sudan and the ways in which many of the poets navigated this trauma through a combination of direct address and metaphor using nature imagery. I recommend this to casual readers of poetry in addition to scholars and those interested in the land and its people.
annieb123's review
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Modern Sudanese Poetry is an anthology of post-independence (1964-present) poetry from Sudanese poets. This book is in the African Poetry Book Series. Anticipated release date is 1st Sept 2019 from the Originally published on my blog: University of Nebraska press. It's 186 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
This volume is impressive in several ways. This is obviously poetry in translation, the translation work by editor Adil Babikir seemed seamless and quite a number of the poems moved me despite being translated to English (and despite being read through the lens of my experiences as a western white woman). The included poetry is appealingly wide ranging. There are both male and female poets represented here. The poetry encompasses both the Arab and African experiences (sometimes both at once). There is a lot of poignant counterpoint in the culture of the region and it is reflected in the poetry.
I also really liked the supporting materials. There is a very well written, accessible, scholarly forward by Matthew Shinoda which provides background information, some concise history and some interesting observations on the language and culture of the region. There is also an introduction, presumably by the editor, which gives a broad background with poetic and literary influences. The intro is accessible and also well documented, with a wealth of possibilities for further reading beyond the scope of the book.
The introductory materials represent roughly 20% of the page content. There are poems from (by my count) 31 poets, many of them have more than one poem included. I felt glimpses, reading them, of the common bonds which everyone shares across cultures and throughout time. We all experience love and loss and regret and confusion and anger.
There's an included notes section with some footnote info, a bibliography and reference section after the poetry, along with short contributor biographies.
I have done quick searches online and through the interlibrary catalogue at my university library. There is very little Sudanese poetry in translation available. None of these poets were familiar to me, and I found a number to follow up. This anthology was needed. Very well done (academic, true, but accessible and appealing to the layperson).
Five stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Modern Sudanese Poetry is an anthology of post-independence (1964-present) poetry from Sudanese poets. This book is in the African Poetry Book Series. Anticipated release date is 1st Sept 2019 from the Originally published on my blog: University of Nebraska press. It's 186 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
This volume is impressive in several ways. This is obviously poetry in translation, the translation work by editor Adil Babikir seemed seamless and quite a number of the poems moved me despite being translated to English (and despite being read through the lens of my experiences as a western white woman). The included poetry is appealingly wide ranging. There are both male and female poets represented here. The poetry encompasses both the Arab and African experiences (sometimes both at once). There is a lot of poignant counterpoint in the culture of the region and it is reflected in the poetry.
I also really liked the supporting materials. There is a very well written, accessible, scholarly forward by Matthew Shinoda which provides background information, some concise history and some interesting observations on the language and culture of the region. There is also an introduction, presumably by the editor, which gives a broad background with poetic and literary influences. The intro is accessible and also well documented, with a wealth of possibilities for further reading beyond the scope of the book.
The introductory materials represent roughly 20% of the page content. There are poems from (by my count) 31 poets, many of them have more than one poem included. I felt glimpses, reading them, of the common bonds which everyone shares across cultures and throughout time. We all experience love and loss and regret and confusion and anger.
There's an included notes section with some footnote info, a bibliography and reference section after the poetry, along with short contributor biographies.
I have done quick searches online and through the interlibrary catalogue at my university library. There is very little Sudanese poetry in translation available. None of these poets were familiar to me, and I found a number to follow up. This anthology was needed. Very well done (academic, true, but accessible and appealing to the layperson).
Five stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
motifenjoyer's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
4.0
"O my times in incarceration.
O my pain of longing and torment.
If I lose touch with you,
who, in this time of coercion, would I be?"
(Mahjoub Sharif, "The Homesick Sparrow")
O my pain of longing and torment.
If I lose touch with you,
who, in this time of coercion, would I be?"
(Mahjoub Sharif, "The Homesick Sparrow")
100reads's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Just wow π€©! What a gem this collection is! I will have to reread slowly to appreciate all itβs goodies. War, revolutions, love, Sudan. Translation is a bit heavy handed due to the Arabic I guess. Otherwise, highly recommended.
gothicvamperstein's review
4.0
Moder Sudanese Poetry was an interesting poetry collection that covers a lot of different themes, such as war, love, identity and sufism. I just wish they included more female poets in this collection to have a even greater variety.
naava's review
4.0
inkpots revving with fury
Let me start with that! That was an excellent few words! That was from one of the poems β I cannot remember which one it was but I wrote it down so I could remember it but didn't think to write down the name of the poem or who wrote it. Silly me.
I haven't read, uh, any poetry that isn't from Europe or North America or Japan. I don't think I've even read Rumi β really! So this was my first time to dip my toes into African poetry, Afro-Arabic poetry, not-familiar poetry.
Yet it was somehow familiar. The fervor, the vibrancy, I know it from somewhere β it was the poems of early 1900's Finnish poets that it reminded me of. And it was beautiful. It was touching. It was patriotic. It was inspiring.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to get to know African/Afro-Arabic poetry.
I received a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start with that! That was an excellent few words! That was from one of the poems β I cannot remember which one it was but I wrote it down so I could remember it but didn't think to write down the name of the poem or who wrote it. Silly me.
I haven't read, uh, any poetry that isn't from Europe or North America or Japan. I don't think I've even read Rumi β really! So this was my first time to dip my toes into African poetry, Afro-Arabic poetry, not-familiar poetry.
Yet it was somehow familiar. The fervor, the vibrancy, I know it from somewhere β it was the poems of early 1900's Finnish poets that it reminded me of. And it was beautiful. It was touching. It was patriotic. It was inspiring.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to get to know African/Afro-Arabic poetry.
I received a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
kyatic's review
4.0
Thanks to Netgalley and the University of Nebraska Press for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This was a really, really interesting book. I found the introduction particularly illuminating; like most people in the West, I would imagine, I know very very little about Sudan and its history and culture, so having the introduction to ground the poems in a rhetorical tradition was really helpful when it came to appreciating them.
There's a good mixture of subjects in this book, although the thing that struck me most was the sheer number of poems that were explicitly about Sudan and its history, the blood and tears that have been spilt in its name. There were so many poems that were essentially love songs to the land, even though the land has been so mistreated and the people have suffered so much for it. I think if you were to publish a compendium of poetry from France, for example, very few would be about the land itself. It was striking to me how the history of a place is indelibly inked on the people and the broader cultural consciousness. I would never even think about having to suffer for my own country's independence, and it was enlightening to read how it feels for those who do; how there's more than just pain there, but pride, too. I did find that a lot of poems, perhaps because they were translated by the same individual, sounded the same; it was hard to discern different authorship in many cases, with the exception of three or four very distinct voices (mostly women - this collection definitely has a gender bias, with very few female poets).
My only real bugbear with this book was that I feel the translation may have been a bit heavy-handed at times. I'm sure this is because there are concepts in Arabic which just don't translate well into English, but it made for some quite bizarre syntax and phrases; the phrase 'roaming dervish' was used in multiple poems, and it's just not something that I could parse. Much of that is my own cultural context, though, and I wouldn't say it's a bad thing; it's just something to consider for those who, like me, are coming at this poetry from a completely uneducated perspective. There are notes at the end of the book which help mitigate this.
A very interesting read, and I absolutely feel like I understand if not the history then the humanity of the poems in this collection. I haven't come out of it an expert in Sudan or Sudanese culture by any means, but it's given me a connection to the place I see in news reports that I think is absolutely vital for those who only ever see the name Sudan in connection to war and violence. The way a place is presented to us absolutely colours how we think of it, and this collection of poetry could not come at a more urgent time.
This was a really, really interesting book. I found the introduction particularly illuminating; like most people in the West, I would imagine, I know very very little about Sudan and its history and culture, so having the introduction to ground the poems in a rhetorical tradition was really helpful when it came to appreciating them.
There's a good mixture of subjects in this book, although the thing that struck me most was the sheer number of poems that were explicitly about Sudan and its history, the blood and tears that have been spilt in its name. There were so many poems that were essentially love songs to the land, even though the land has been so mistreated and the people have suffered so much for it. I think if you were to publish a compendium of poetry from France, for example, very few would be about the land itself. It was striking to me how the history of a place is indelibly inked on the people and the broader cultural consciousness. I would never even think about having to suffer for my own country's independence, and it was enlightening to read how it feels for those who do; how there's more than just pain there, but pride, too. I did find that a lot of poems, perhaps because they were translated by the same individual, sounded the same; it was hard to discern different authorship in many cases, with the exception of three or four very distinct voices (mostly women - this collection definitely has a gender bias, with very few female poets).
My only real bugbear with this book was that I feel the translation may have been a bit heavy-handed at times. I'm sure this is because there are concepts in Arabic which just don't translate well into English, but it made for some quite bizarre syntax and phrases; the phrase 'roaming dervish' was used in multiple poems, and it's just not something that I could parse. Much of that is my own cultural context, though, and I wouldn't say it's a bad thing; it's just something to consider for those who, like me, are coming at this poetry from a completely uneducated perspective. There are notes at the end of the book which help mitigate this.
A very interesting read, and I absolutely feel like I understand if not the history then the humanity of the poems in this collection. I haven't come out of it an expert in Sudan or Sudanese culture by any means, but it's given me a connection to the place I see in news reports that I think is absolutely vital for those who only ever see the name Sudan in connection to war and violence. The way a place is presented to us absolutely colours how we think of it, and this collection of poetry could not come at a more urgent time.
decafjess's review
5.0
I chose this book as part of my World Reading Challenge. I am very uninformed about both poetry and Sudan, so I went into the book knowing nothing. I really feel like I learned something, and I am grateful,
(arc received from the publisher)
(arc received from the publisher)